Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Our psychopharmacology medication clinic has become almost like the crisis triage point in Toronto because when everybody throws up their hands, they say maybe medication is the answer. As we try to move ahead in our genetic research and clinical trials to look at some medications that may be more helpful, the majority of the time we don't have a medication that can make a huge difference in a crisis.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  That's right.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  I think it's really about making sure that every individual gets the kind of support—it's usually behaviourally mediated support—and medical care they need at their specific stage of development. So for one- to three-year olds, or zero- to three-year-olds, it's very intensive infant development services that are really focused on social communication.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  I do think we need better data. I think the issue of whether every child should be screened and at what age is an interesting one that evidence needs to be collected on. The American Academy of Paediatrics suggested that all children should be screened at 18 months and 24 months.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  That's just Ontario.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Absolutely. From the research point of view, I think it's wonderful; the Nova Scotia government has been working with our colleagues in Halifax on the early intervention project that Suzanne was referring to. An ethicist gave them advice that a lottery system was the most equitable way to provide the service, because people know that the more advantaged families somehow manage to move their way up the wait list.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  I can start. I think one of the big gaps is access to the appropriate kind of intervention. We have this discrepancy in models across the country where some provinces give a set amount of money to a family. For autism, $20,000 will buy some services. I would say a lot of parents who have moderate incomes are spending over $50,000, and many with lots of money are spending over $100,000.

Subcommittee on Neurological Disease committee  Thank you, Madam Chair. I am delighted to be able to represent the Canadian Paediatric Society. I'm a developmental pediatrician, and the Canadian Paediatric Society has an increasing corps of developmental pediatrics, as in new developmental pediatricians, a new subspecialty in Canada in the last few years.