Government programs for Canadian Aspies

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Do any of the CA's know of any programs supported by the governement that are there specifically for people with Asperger's/Autism? What I mean is, is there something like an Autism housing program that helps people with autism acquire their own place of residence? Is there a program that gives bursaries to aspie students to help fund their college/univ. education? Post away

I don't think so. I guess if you are diagnosed as having autism and you can't work etc. you could get on social assistance and live in some time of assisted living? I think if you're a fully functioning person with AS, you have to get a job and buy a house on your own like the rest of the population. Some universities have a program for disabled student support, and you might be able to apply for a financial bursury/award.

The good news is that all the universities and colleges have bursaries for students with disabilities. One very accessible place to get a bursary to take courses is at Thompson Rivers University (formerly Open Learning University) where you can enroll anytime for most courses. That is, you don't have to wait until a semester begins to start the course, there is continuous enrollment. The online learning component is a little narrow in terms of the range of courses and programs but they do have a few IT programs.

The great thing about these online courses is that they're a little cheaper than courses you'd take in class. The quality is exactly the same, if not better. People from all over the world enroll in courses at Thompson Rivers, online. And of course you can take those courses and later transfer the credits into a program of your choice at another university if you want. Here's the link for the online courses and programs:

http://www.openlearning.tru.ca/

If you have a disability the Canadian student loan programs allow you to take a 40% course load and still qualify for student loans. Afterward if you run into massive debt and cannot find enough employment to pay the student loans off you can apply for forgiveness based on disability. You have to apply for forgiveness both for the provincial component and the federal component, so it's a bit of a process to do that. It can be done though...

The major autism societies in Canada do not offer much for adults with autism. They tend to be focused on the needs and beliefs of parents of children with autism. It's an unfortunate fact, but as one staff person from the National Autism Society explained to me, "Children are where the big bucks are."

People with a diagnosis of AS are eligible for disability based income assistance through welfare programs. It's quite difficult to get on disability income assistance in the province where I live. You have to get a 23 page form signed by two doctors and a social worker. But once you do get on the government will allow you to go to school while you are on disability. They will pay your living expenses while you attend school part time. You would have to get the student loan to pay the tuition though, or a bursary.

First off, I hope you find the help you want.


That being said, It irks me to no end how government propaganda affects us. Health care is solely a provincial responsibility. The only thing the federal government does is use tax money(which comes from us), as a leverage to try to interfere. They dont seem to actually want to run the hospitals.