Funding – Autism Spectrum Disorder

If your child gets an ASD designation, you will be eligible for funding from the BC Ministry of Child and Family Services (MCFD). For children between ages of 6 and 18, the MCFD splits the funding between the family and the child?s school. Up to $6,000 is available directly to the family which can be used for therapy, equipment etc. This is the list of eligible services. Some or all of this funding can be used to pay BrainBoost for services that we arrange when we set up your plan.

Your school district will receive up to $17,000 to cover the cost of supporting a student with ASD. In exceptional circumstances, some of this money can be released to pay for BrainBoost services. Get in touch with your coach if you feel this may apply to you. The Vancouver School Board makes these decisions on a case-by-case basis.

The $6,000 can be accessed by completing this form and the MCFD will be in touch with you. Again, your family doctor and/or your Autism assessor will be able to help you gather the documents needed. To access the support through the school districts, your child will need an Individual Education Plan (IEP). This will be conducted by the Special Needs Coordinator of your child?s home school. The IEP is a document that contains the steps needed for your child to have success in school. It contains information on individualized goals for your child, the means to achieve these goals, the additional services your child can receive, and more. You should be consulted about the creation of your child’s IEP.

If your child is working in a regular school (for example, Lord Byng in the Vancouver School District) then the entire school funding is allocated to that school. However, if your child is working in a Distributed Learning school, then a certain amount of this money may be released to BrainBoost to help us deliver services that are required to meet your child?s IEP requirements.

 

There are funding issues that come up when a student with ASD enrols in Distance Learning (DL). If the student enrols with only one DL school, then that school board is allocated the funding from the government. They then take responsibility for creating the IEP, providing support and communicating with you. Students in grades K-9 can only register with one school district.

For students with ASD in grades 10-12, it is possible for them to take courses at different DL schools in different districts. However, one district will take responsibility for IEP creation, support and communication. They will also receive the funding. This technically allows students with ASD to have the same flexibility in the education as other students. However, in reality there are many complications in asking a Special Needs Coordinator in one district to coordinate services provided by a teacher from a different district. As such, your DL home school will likely prefer for you to have your child work with them for the majority of their courses in order to simplify the situation. Speak to your coach at BrainBoost if you have problems or questions relating to this.