Municipal Autism Strategy Committee seeking input
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
The City of Sault Ste. Marie is dedicated to increasing public awareness about autism and the day-to-day challenges faced by individuals with autism, their families, and the professionals with whom they interact. In 2021, the City launched its
municipal autism strategy, the first of its kind for an Ontario municipality. The goal of the strategy is to assist families, caregivers and individuals dealing with an autism diagnosis and to assist them with accessing available services.
As the Access Ontario Autism program advances and changes to organizations occur, the Autism Strategy Committee is seeking input into ways of keeping the City’s strategy current. An information session is planned for agencies, educational and service delivery organizations on:
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
Russ Ramsay Room, Ronald A. Irwin Civic Centre – 99 Foster Drive
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Members of the Autism Strategy Committee and municipal staff will be in attendance to discuss updates to the current strategy. Although all forms of accessibility, including autism are already included in the City’s multi-year strategy, the committee focused their efforts on three specific tasks:
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An Autism Services Inventory providing a list of public and private autism services available in the community.
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An Autism Roadmap identifying services from when autism is first suspected through pre-diagnosis, diagnosis, and care management. Two separate roadmaps were prepared. One for those 16 years of age or less and one for older persons.
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Design Guidelines that take into consideration individuals with autism so that all new facilities meet high standards of accessibility including “Sensory Spaces, Design Guidelines for the Spatial and Perceptual Needs of Individuals with Autism.”
For those unable to attend in person but would like to provide feedback, contact the City’s Accessibility office at 705-541-2822 or email
accessibility@cityssm.on.ca. All comments will be reviewed and considered as part of the revision process.