I am a great admirer of Quebec. It’s not perfect and I’d like to pay less taxes, but I’m not complaining. I feel so lucky to live here, especially in Quebec.
But now I’m ashamed of my beautiful Quebec. It’s a rather personal situation, but I decided to publish this column in the hope that it can help ensure that other parents don’t have the same problem as our family. It’s getting too late for us.
My oldest son is 3 years old. He is fantastic. He is in good shape, goes to a wonderful daycare, enjoys Paw Patrol, cars, music and mini wheat. He can even skate (actually stand without falling)! He is very proud of it.
In winter we use the outdoor ice rinks. It’s free, we’re lucky. And in summer we enjoy the many parks. It’s free, we’re lucky. If he has a fever, we go to the clinic and everyone takes care of him. It’s free, we’re lucky.
But my son doesn’t talk much. He will soon be 4 years old and he said his first real word a little over a year ago. This is a significant delay.
Less lucky
And we are much less lucky with that. We have no help from the health system. I would much rather my son be able to communicate more easily than be able to skate. And him too.
Le Devoir wrote an excellent report last May on this problem, which affects thousands of children in Quebec. The waiting times are terrible.
Quebec created the Act Early program a few years ago to help a child like my son.
This program “aims to identify signs of difficulties in a child’s development as quickly as possible in order to quickly refer them to the right services,” writes the Ministry of Health early on in the law. Language, motor skills and general development are taken into account in order to quickly identify disorders in children and start providing support quickly.
“The sooner we recognize it, the better the chances are of solving the problems,” Health Minister Lionel Carmant told TVA Nouvelles last year.
In short, this program is wonderful.
When we realized that our son had a speech delay, we consulted a pediatrician who enrolled our son in this program. It was October 2021. Our boy was 20 months old.
So he will be 4 years old in a few weeks and how many health professionals have met him through the program? Zero.
It’s been 24 months. You have to “act early”, and that was already two years ago…
Double
However, Minister Carmant said last year that delays could vary between three months and a year, which he said was already “very long”. For us it’s double.
I tell myself that at least at this point, when my son has a child, maybe he can take the seat he reserved.
Of course, in the meantime, my partner and I take precautions, we act, even if sometimes we have no idea whether we are doing it right. Like all parents with their oldest child, we are recruits.
We go into the private sector, we have help at daycare, we read everything we can, we count on a lot of good people to help us. And my son is making great progress. But it is a pity. This program, inaccessible to us, seemed perfect to help our little boy.
I know they are overwhelmed and we are short of people. But I’m ashamed of my beautiful Quebec. I thought he would take better care of my children.