Regina mother Jeanelle Mandes is calling on the provincial education system to offer more support for children with special needs.
Mandes’ 10-year-old daughter Sharlize suffers from autism spectrum disorder.
She is also a member of the Beardy’s and Okemasis Cree Nation.
On Thursday, Mandes and the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations held a press conference.
“The systems are failing my daughter and my family,” she says.
Mandes says Sharlize is non-verbal and is afflicted by aggressive behaviour on a daily basis.
Because of this, she was told her daughter would no longer be able to go to the elementary school she had been attending.
“This is going to be her third school in the past two years. I lost my complete faith in the education system; they are denying my daughter’s inherent treaty rights to an education.”
Mandes says she was told if she fails to comply with the offer of a new school, her daughter will be put on medical exclusion until she “behaves properly.”
A frustrated Mandes formed a team of support workers back in September to brainstorm solutions to make the classroom more accessible for her daughter.
“We come up with different solutions and ideas on how to better manage Sharlize during school hours. We’ve come up with the idea of getting her own one-on-one educational assistant through Jordan’s Principal funding. Everybody thought that was a great idea. The education system denied that right for my daughter.”
Jordan’s Principal tries to ensure First Nations children living on and off reserve have access to equally funded government services.
She adds passing her daughter off from one school to another is not a solution.
The 2019 Saskatchewan budget pledges an increase of $700,000 to autism individualized funding. Eligible families can receive up to $6,000 per year but only children under the age of six are covered.
Mandes is an advocate for the families of children living with special needs in remote communities.
April 2 marks Autism Awareness Month and Mandes is the lead organizer of an associated event, Light It Up Blue in Regina.
(PHOTO: Jeanelle Mandes and daughter Sharlize at the Light It Up Blue event on Autism Awareness Day. Photo courtesy of Jeanelle Mandes’ Facebook page.)