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Early Intervention Crisis: Families Pay for Autism Care
26 Mar
Summary
- Families are paying thousands for private autism assessments due to long public waitlists.
- New Brunswick has a severe shortage of school psychologists, with only six positions filled.
- Universities struggle to graduate enough psychologists to meet the national demand.
In New Brunswick, parents are bypassing lengthy public waitlists for psychological assessments, opting for costly private evaluations to support their children's needs. Kelsey West highlighted this struggle after paying $3,000 for her son Caleb's autism diagnosis, a process that could have taken up to two years in the public system. This financial burden underscores a wider crisis in accessing essential mental health services for children.
The province's anglophone school system faces a severe shortage of psychologists, with only six of 45 full-time positions filled. This results in an alarming ratio of one psychologist for every 13,000 students, far exceeding national recommendations. While the francophone system fares better, the overall lack of professionals impacts early intervention and support for students with social, emotional, or learning difficulties.
Experts attribute the shortage to a national deficit in graduating psychologists and retaining them in public systems. Universities like the University of New Brunswick have limited capacity to train new professionals. Efforts are underway to increase psychologist availability, including new partnerships between UNB and the Education Department, aiming to encourage graduates to work within the public sector by improving pay and work-life balance.
