Expect a passionate rally tomorrow in Windsor aimed at improving servicing for adults with developmental disabilities.
The rally dubbed "Nowhere to turn" is hosted by the "Parents of Adult Children with Disabilities Advocacy and Support Group Windsor." They want to raise awareness of the long wait lists for services for adults with disabilities and the struggles facing parents who are raising them.
Mary Beth Rocheleau has a teenage son with autism and worries about this future. She says the transition from childhood services to adult services is excruciating as they get cut off from services when they turn 18.
"Right now there is a 25-year wait list for housing for people with developmental disabilities and it is the longest wait list in all of Canada," says Rocheleau. "Every night when I go to bed at night I'm scared to death about what is going to happen to him. I don't want him to wither away in a nursing home. He doesn't deserve it."
She says when the child turns 18, they have to be re-assessed and they get cut off from services.
"There should be no wait list, it should be streamlined, our children don't stop having disabilities and as far as I'm concerned, it is the Liberals way of saving money on the backs of people with disabilities because they can't speak up for themselves."
The rally takes place from 11:30am to 1pm at the Ministry of Community and Social Services Office in Windsor on Erie St. E.
— with files from AM800's Peter Langille —