Protect Autism Supports in BC
A Call to Action from Autism Family Friends
The BC government has announced the new BC Children & Youth Disability Benefit, a long‑overdue step toward ensuring that all disabled children receive the support they deserve. Autism Family Friends (AFF) welcomes this long‑awaited recognition of the broader disability community.
However, we are deeply concerned that this progress is being paired with the dismantling of the Autism Funding Program — a move that risks destabilizing the essential supports autistic children currently rely on.
Families deserve both:
✔️ Expanded disability funding for all children
✔️ Protection of the individualized Autism Funding that has supported autistic children for decades
Autism Family Friends is committed to:
Standing with families of children with complex disabilities
Ensuring no child is deemed “not disabled enough”
Advocating for sustainable, equitable funding
Keeping families informed without creating panic
Acting with integrity, clarity, and compassion
What’s Changing?
The province plans to replace individualized Autism Funding with the new BC Children & Youth Disability Benefit. While the intention is to create a more inclusive system, families and advocates have raised serious concerns:
Loss of choice and flexibility in selecting providers
Disruption of long-standing therapeutic relationships
Unclear transition plans that may leave families without services
Increased waitlists in an already strained system
Reduced ability to tailor supports to each autistic child’s unique needs
Families are being asked to trust a system that has not yet demonstrated how it will meet the diverse needs of autistic children.
Why This Matters
The Autism Funding Program has allowed families to:
Choose providers who understand their child’s communication and sensory needs
Build stable, long-term support relationships
Access individualized, neurodiversity‑affirming care
Maintain continuity during school transitions and developmental changes
Removing this structure without a proven alternative risks:
Regression in skills and communication
Loss of trusted providers
Increased stress on families
Greater inequities between communities
Autistic children deserve stability, dignity, and individualized support — not uncertainty.
Equity Requires Representation: Why Diverse Family Voices Must Lead
AFF’s Interpretation of the CYSN Infographic:
Through the Lens of Family Questions
CYSN
AFF
What You Can Do Now
Who to contact to voice your concern
Download or copy + paste the templates
Write a letter to your MLA:
Call your MLA:
Write a letter to CYSN:
Join AutismBC as a member:
Joining AutismBC strengthens collective advocacy.
Increased membership demonstrates the breadth of community support and helps amplify efforts to protect and improve services for children and families across British Columbia.
Reach out to the Media:
Write to your service provider: