Canada (Commonwealth Union) – The indigenous or first nations community accounts for approximately 1.8 million people in Canada. Many Indigenous communities have felt marginalized and plagued with false stereotypes, which has held some members back.
The lack or complete absence of data on the patients or their requirements, small number of trained professionals and the absence of concurrence on the most suitable model to deliver care are key obstacles facing indigenous autistic individuals, such as the Métis and Inuit people according to a new Canadian report evaluating autism services across the nation.
All of the obstacles faced by non-Indigenous autism patients which are considerable are aggravated by colonization and other associated intergenerational traumas and leave Indigenous autistic children, adults and their families in oblivion, according to two researchers from the University of Alberta, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry who are assisting them bridge the gap.
Lonnie Zwaigenbaum, pediatrics professor, director of the Autism Research Centre who also chairs the national report which was finished by the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences at the request of the Public Health Agency of Canada stated that their primary conclusion was to a large extent to address these problems with an indigenous lead. “The report was predicated on the ability to integrate existing evidence with lived experience, and the reality is there’s just not a lot of published evidence in this area,” Zwaigenbaum said.
Grant Bruno, parent of two autistic boys and a PhD student studying autism within indigenous communities in Alberta and provided his services to the Indigenous advisory committee for the report, stated that he was not surprised there was a lack of community-based research present. Bruno formed an autism advisory circle for his research with elders, autistic people, service providers and educators. An activity of the project was to put together a sensory-friendly round dance for next year.
