A concerned mother with a son on the autism spectrum is alleging discrimination with a policy being enforced at a Halifax summer recreation camp.
Ally Garber and other parents of children with special needs say they’re learning now that their children won’t be able to attend camp for the entire summer, as the city admits there’s a cap in place for youth with disabilities.
“How are we going to explain this to our nine-year-old that you are only allowed to be included for a certain amount of the summer?” asked Ally Garber, whose son, Hugh, is looking forward to summer camp.
The family was planning on registering their son in Halifax’s recreation youth camp for four weeks, as they’ve done in the past. But that’s when the family was told there was a three-week maximum policy for youth with special needs.
Garber was taken aback, calling the cap on children with disabilities “discriminatory.”
“But now he’s questioning why he’s not able to go for the full summer, he’s only allowed to go for a couple of weeks.”
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Garber raised the issue on social media and it has resonated with other parents who also frustrated by the policy.
Garber and her husband wrote a letter to Halifax mayor Mike Savage asking HRM to remove the three-week cap, saying it isolates and leaves out youth with special needs.
“That cap only applies to children with disabilities and that’s a fundamental human rights issue,” said Garber.
HRM staff says the cap has been in place for the past two years and is designed to allow more children who require one-on-one support to attend camp.
“Individuals who do require this level of support are able to register for camp over the duration of the summer,” said Erin DiCarlo, HRM spokesperson.
“That extra one-on-one support is provided for three weeks, however, that doesn’t preclude families from bringing in their support worker as well as an alternative.”
Staff said they are trying to accommodate individual needs, but the three-week policy aims to ensure more children can attend camp and receive one-on-one support.
“Under the previous system, fewer children were able to receive that type of support,” said DiCarlo. “We had fewer children receiving support for a longer period of time, so under the new system, we are able to offer that to more families.”
Staffing and finding camp councilors qualified to offer one-on-one support has also been a challenge.
Garber says staff from leisure services reached out and were able to offer her son an extra two weeks of camp, but said it doesn’t address the bigger issues at stake.
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