I don’t usually speak out like this, but staying quiet hasn’t helped.

My son, River who is non verbal and level 3 ASD, has been denied admission and support from multiple specialized private schools in and around Calgary. Each decision leaves us with the same outcome: no viable educational placement that meets his needs.

I never thought I would have to fight this hard just to get my child the support he deserves.

My son is a neurodivergent child with real needs—needs that require consistency, understanding, and proper support. Instead, we’ve been met with barriers, delays, and a system that feels impossible to navigate.

Across Calgary and Alberta, families like mine are being failed.

Programs like Family Support for Children with Disabilities (FSCD) are supposed to provide essential services—respite care, behavioural support, aides, and coordination. But in reality, families are facing:

Long wait times just to be approved or assigned support
Delays in accessing services, even after being accepted
Limited availability of qualified providers, meaning help isn’t actually accessible
No direct support within schools, forcing parents to fight multiple systems at once
While children wait, critical developmental windows are lost.

At the same time, schools—both private and public—are increasingly turning away or failing to properly support children with additional needs, leaving families with nowhere to go.

This is not an isolated issue. This is a systemic failure.

Families are being pushed to exhaustion, forced to advocate endlessly just to access basic supports that should already be in place.

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What We Are Demanding

We are calling on the Alberta government to take immediate action:

Reduce wait times for FSCD approvals and service delivery
Increase funding to ensure children actually receive the supports they are approved for
Ensure schools cannot turn away children due to additional needs
Provide proper, funded support within classrooms
Create accountability and transparency in how services are delivered

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Why This Matters

Early support is not optional—it is critical.

When children don’t receive the help they need:

Their development suffers
Families burn out
Long-term outcomes become more severe and more costly
This is not just a family issue—it is a societal responsibility.

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Stand With Us

We will not stay silent while our children are overlooked.

Sign this petition to demand real change, real support, and real accountability for neurodivergent and special needs children across Alberta.