Article content

Parents who are exhausted, stressed out and depressed from taking care of their autistic children say Quebec is failing their children and their families.

“I have no life, no work, no social life and there is stress in our marriage,” said Kathleen Salvail, whose four-year-old son and two-year-old daughter have autism.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Quebec parents to file human rights complaints over lack of autism services Back to video

Salvail said she had to pay $3,000 to have her children’s autism diagnosed privately because there was a two-year waiting list in the public system in her hometown of Mirabel.

“If we didn’t get a diagnosis, we couldn’t get services,” she said on Sunday during a press conference in Montreal.

“Because of the waiting lists, many parents have to pay for private services, and the financial burden on families is immense.”

The parents say they are planning to file complaints with the Quebec Human Rights Commission for discriminating against their children.

“We cannot allow the government to continue to violate our children’s rights and our civil rights,” said Katharine Cukier, whose 15-year-old son Benjamin has autism.