By Joel Ceausu
The Suburban

For the vast majority of people living on the autism spectrum or with severe mental disorders, social assistance is their only source of income, says Official Opposition critic for persons living with a disability or with autism spectrum disorder, Elisabeth Prass.

The Liberal MNA for D’Arcy-McGee tabled a petition to the National Assembly with 5,264 signatures requesting that autism diagnoses and certain severe mental health disorders be reintegrated into the list of evident diagnoses eligible for Quebec’s Social Solidarity program. Accompanied by her colleague, Désirée McGraw, critic for social solidarity and community action, and representatives from a number of organizations at a press conference, they called for individuals with severe mental health disorders and autism to be re-eligible for the program, noting these individuals account for 43.1% of social solidarity beneficiaries, with nearly 90% of them unemployed.

Finally, the petition proposes that the CAQ government change its approach to evaluating employment constraints from a biomedical paradigm to a psychological model to better understand impacted individuals’ realities and respond to their needs. “For the vast majority of people living on the autism spectrum or with severe mental disorders, social assistance is their only source of income, being for the most part unemployed. With the decision to exclude these diagnoses, the CAQ government is making life more difficult for vulnerable people,” said Prass. “We can’t abandon this category of people to their fate on the basis of biomedical assessment alone, but rather opt for a psychosocial assessment approach. That would be much more logical.”

In 2022, Quebec City revised criteria for expedited access to Social Solidarity for adults, resulting in the removal of over 50 diagnoses. This included conditions such as autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, complete blindness, and other permanent and irreversible conditions. The CAQ is significantly complicating the lives of individuals facing serious mental health disorders or other debilitating conditions, said McGraw. “Are these changes a strategic move by the CAQ to unjustly bar them from the Social Solidarity Program?”

The Fédération Québécoise de l’Autisme calls on Minister Chantal Rouleau to reconsider her decision, said executive director Lili Plourde, “and to provide proper support for adults facing substantial barriers to employment inclusion, aiming to assist them in breaking free from poverty.” n