Even on a chilly fall day, Victoria Richer was doing one of her favourite things — hanging out on the swing set.
“She sees the world in a different way,” explained Victoria’s mother, Michelle Godard-Richer.
“It’s actually amazing because she’s pulled away from all the busyness of life.”
Despite that, Godard-Richer says her 17-year-old daughter, who lives with autism, loves her routine.
A big part of that is school, something she’s been unable to do for the past four days due to the ongoing Alberta teachers’ strike.
“She likes to be around her friends at school,” Godard-Richer said. “And the staff… she really loves the educational assistant (EA) team at Bow Valley High and she’s really missing that, for sure.”
Godard-Richer says Victoria and her younger brother, who also lives with autism, are back in “summer mode” during the first week of the labour strife.
It’s caused a major disruption in Michelle’s work life.
“With them at school, I’m able to devote a good six hours a day to writing, social media marketing and all the stuff that I need to get done, whereas now I’m looking at one hour a day if I’m lucky.”
Godard-Richer says her husband works upwards of 50 hours a week in order to keep them financially stable.
While she’s grateful for the flexibility her work provides, she says the realities of families like hers have been forgotten during the start of the strike.
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“I assumed when this happened there would be a plan in place, because there had been so much warning (the strike) would be a possibility,” Godard-Richer said.
“I thought we would get some sort of access to our EAs because they’re not part of the strike… we haven’t had any contact at all.”
It’s left Godard-Richer providing the bulk of the care for her high-needs daughter — relieved for only a few hours a week when an aide spends time with Victoria.
Rocky View Schools, where Victoria and her brother attend, didn’t respond to Global News’ request for comment.
The Calgary Board of Education says educational assistants play an important role, but work under the direction of teachers.
Because both of Godard-Richer’s children are over the age of 12, the family is also exempt from support under Alberta’s Parent Payment Plan, which provides $30/day for families with children 12 and under.
In a statement to Global News, the province says, “we are working on more ways to help families through the strike, and we will announce more supports soon.”
Advocates say the sidelines have become uncomfortably familiar for families like Godard-Richer’s.
“Thousands of families are actually waiting for any support at all,” explained Trish Bowman, CEO of Inclusion Alberta. “Things like respite, child care, additional expenses related to child care — because it’s understood that families with children who have a disability have extra costs.
“Now, they’ve basically got $30 a day if their child’s under 12 and that’s it. We’re hearing of families in really desperate situations.”
“Just including us in that child care subsidy and being mindful that all the coded kids that they have in their system need that caregiver would be a huge help,” Godard-Richer said.
“It would also be nice if they arranged something with the EA system. I don’t know how they would do it, but if families had access to the educational assistance in the schools, that would make a huge difference.”
Bowman and Godard-Richer know time is of the essence when it comes to the development of special needs children.
“Even getting a diagnosis can take you years… kids are losing critical development years they will never get back,” Bowman said.
“Once a child reaches around between age five to six, they’re not able to make IQ gain anymore from therapy,” Godard-Richer explained.
“All they can gain at that point is skills. And the sooner you can intervene, the better the outcome for these children.”
Bowman is hoping for “creative solutions” to help families in this current situation, but beyond that, she hopes Albertans of all abilities keep that awareness in other aspects of daily life.
“Unless you have the privilege and pleasure of knowing families who have children with disabilities, or are a family who have children with disability, you might not understand it,” Bowman said.
“No one ever expects to become disabled or to have a child with a disability, but it might be future you as well.
“We need allies, we need others to make it really clear that these people matter, that we want the right supports in place for them, they contribute to our communities.”
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