Spinning for autism

The wintery cold conditions nor the snow falling outside the Covent Garden Market early Friday morning could deter Jessica Ashton from her goal.

“We’re here today spinning for 50,000 seconds which is equivalent to 13 hours, a second for each child on the current Ontario autism waitlist.”

The advocate for children with autism is also a mother. She says, “My little guy has autism and he was diagnosed about five years ago. And that's when I started my advocating work. At that point there was 23,000 children waiting for services. And now that has doubled.”

April is Autism Awareness Month, and Ashton came up with the idea for the event while talking with close friend Karen Wilson.

“We’ve spent together all 10 years if not more, and so we just decided to hop on the bikes and have a day of spinning for these kids with that need therapy.”

The lack of funding and programs for autism services has been a subject that parents of those children have been petitioning the provincial government for years, and Ashton says the situation is only getting worse.

“This needs to change and it's simply a matter of paying now or paying later and paying a lot more later,” she adds. “If these children don't get access to therapy during these crucial young years that they need it, they may not have the tools and likely will not have the tools to live an independent life as they get older.”

The group will spin from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday — over 50,000 seconds to represent ever child that is sitting on a waiting list in the province for the crucial therapy and other services.