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th ei fp .c a Th e IF P -H al to n H ill s | T hu rs da y, F eb ru ar y 21 ,2 01 9 | 6 ABOUT US This newspaper, published every Thursday, is a division of the Metroland Media Group Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Torstar Corporation. The Metroland family of newspapers is comprised of more than 80 community publications across Ontario. This newspaper is a member of the National NewsMedia Council. Complainants are urged to bring their concerns to the attention of the news- paper and, if not satisfied, write The National NewsMedia Council, Suite 200, 890 Yonge St., Toronto, ON M4W 2H2. Phone: 416-340-1981 Web: www.mediacouncil.ca newsroom@theifp.ca IndependentAndFreePress @IFP_11 WHO WE ARE Publisher Kelly Montague Regional General Manager Steve Foreman Regional Director of Media Holly Chriss Regional Managing Editor Catherine O'Hara Managing Editor Karen Miceli Distribution Representative Iouliana Polar Classified/Real Estate Kristie Pells Regional Production Manager Manuel Garcia Production Shelli Harrison Halton Media General Manager Vicki Dillane CONTACT US The Independent & Free Press 280 Guelph Street, Unit 77 Georgetown, ON L7G 4B1 Phone: 905-873-0301 Classifieds: 905-234-1016 Fax: 905-873-0398 Letters to the editor All letters must be fewer than 200 words and include your name and telephone number for verification purposes. We reserve the right to edit, con- dense or reject letters. Delivery For all delivery inquiries, please e-mail lpolar@miltoncana- dianchampion.com or call 905- 234-1019. OPINION TO LEARN HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR OWN CONTENT VISIT THEIFP.CA EDITORIAL OPINION If you read no further than its self-congratulatory press release, the Ontario government's plan for help- ing autistic children and their families looks like an enormous advance in a great humanitarian cause. Nearly three times as many children will receive funding for life-changing therapy than is now the case and within 18 months the horrendous wait lines for intervention will vanish, the government promises. What's not to like? It turns out there's a lot. If you go beyond the press release and inspect the plan's full details, you'll see it's filled with gaping holes. The biggest one is that in or- der to help more children, this government will actu- ally reduce its assistance for others. To be sure, what this government is trying to achieve is laudable. A developmental disorder charac- terized by difficulties with communication and social interaction, autism presents a huge challenge for - and places enormous pressures on - thousands of Ontario families. While an estimated 40,000 children in Ontario have autism, only 8,400 currently receive services while 23,000 are languishing on the wait list for behavioural therapies. At least 2,400 children are waiting simply for a diagnosis. Those numbers are scandalous. The status quo is unacceptable in the kind of compassionate society On- tario claims to be. At the very least, Children, Commu- nity and Social Services Minister Lisa MacLeod de- serves high marks for tackling this embarrassment. MacLeod's solution is to provide the funding for therapy directly to parents and let them choose how the money's spent. Her hope is that this will clear the enor- mous backlog of autistic children awaiting help. Con- sidering that early therapy can be hugely beneficial and even save money down the road if that timely in- tervention reduces the need for future assistance, there's wisdom in her approach. Where the plan rightly starts raising alarms is its budget for therapy. It isn't budging. It stands at $325 million this year and that's exactly where it will re- main. This means the government intends to distribute the same amount of money for therapy programs to a sub- stantially larger group of people. The same-sized pie will be sliced into more, smaller pieces. Moreover, by shifting the focus to early intervention for young chil- dren, this government is to a degree providing support on the basis of age, not need. Young children on the low end of the autism spec- trum will receive as much government assistance as older children with far greater needs; perhaps even more. No wonder many parents of autistic children have denounced the PC plan. We concede the government faces the formidable task of improving services while eliminating the pro- vincial deficit and not raising taxes. Where does the public expect them to find even more money for autistic therapy? That said, this government has come up with a deep- ly-flawed solution to a very complex problem. It should heed its critics and overhaul its own overhaul of autism services. OVERHAUL OF ONTARIO'S AUTISM PLAN NEEDED Pneumonia is an illness that most people recognize as a serious lung infection. In fact, pneumonia is not a specific term and re- ally just means inflamma- tion in the deep lung tis- sues, where oxygen is ab- sorbed into the body and waste gases are expelled. There are many possible causes of pneumonia, a po- tential life-threatening dis- ease. Most commonly, in ani- mals, pneumonia can be caused by infectious agents (viruses, bacteria, fungi, or even worms). It can also oc- cur as a result chemical in- halation, smoke inhalation or the aspiration of materi- al, usually vomited or re- gurgitated food, into the lungs. Conditions that predis- pose to aspiration pneumo- nia include sedation, endo- tracheal intubation, me- chanical ventilation, esophageal or neuromus- cular paralysis, esophage- al disease, vomiting, laryn- geal disease, neurologic disorders, force feeding, in- halation of foreign materi- al, and gastric overdisten- tion. Aspiration pneumonia is more common in dogs than cats. The most common signs of pneumonia, regardless of the cause, include coughing, nasal discharge, lethargy, loss of appetite, weakness, difficulty breathing, fever and exer- cise intolerance. A diagnosis of aspira- tion pneumonia, as with other types of pneumonia, will require a physical ex- amination, laboratory tests, chest X-rays and pos- sible other testing. Treat- ment with antibiotics, sup- portive therapies, includ- ing oxygen administration and other measures, may be required. Recently, a research study has shed some new light on dog breeds that are more likely to suffer from aspiration pneumonia. These studies had found that brachycephalic breeds (those with a broad, short skull) did not appear more likely to develop aspiration pneumonia. However, with the increasing popularity of various brachycephalic breeds - in particular, En- glish bulldogs, French bulldogs and pugs - a new study was designed. Medical records (80,137 records) from a large re- ferral veterinary hospital were reviewed from 2006- 15. Records with a diagno- sis of aspiration pneumo- nia were further evaluat- ed. Barry Burtis is a local, retired, companion-animal veterinarian. KNOW PNEUMONIA SYMPTOMS IN PETS ASPIRATION PNEUMONIA MORE COMMON IN DOGS THAN CATS, WRITES BARRY BURTIS BARRY BURTIS Column