WHERE WE CAME FROM:
In Ontario, prior to the Best Start ECVC Program, there were infants and children in some regions of the province, who were diagnosed with blindness or low vision, without receiving the specialized early intervention they required. As a result, some families struggled to come to terms with this diagnosis and support their child’s development in isolation. These underserved chi
ldren were needlessly at risk of starting school insufficiently prepared for success. For decades, parents, consumers and service providers concerned about insufficient and inequitable services for children who are blind or have low vision, met, planned, proposed and lobbied for province-wide, specialized, early intervention for infants from the moment of diagnosis of visual impairment, until their entrance to school. The planning and lobbying for this early intervention, was neither easy nor straightforward. Provincial governments, government officials, policies and programs came and went. Advocates researched international best practices, collected data, and developed innovative and sustainable business models. Many meetings were held around the province with stakeholders requesting essentially the same things. Many proposals were drafted, redrafted, and submitted to organizations and governments to attempt to fill this gap in services. But until 2007, none of these efforts resulted in the goal of specialized, funded, and equitable services for this low incidence high need population. Through the efforts of many people and organizations over many years, in 2007, Ontario’s Ministry of Children and Youth Services, announced the establishment of the Best Start Blind Low Vision Early Intervention Program. This program supports and follows children with visual impairment and their families, from diagnosis until school entry, everywhere in the province, in both official languages. Ontarians concerned about equity and opportunity for all citizens, including those with visual impairment, received this announcement with joy, relief, and gratitude. This public investment, building on existing community services, gives children who are blind or have low vision the tools to start school ready to succeed alongside their sighted peers. The two greatest contributing factors that made this decade-long advocacy successful were perseverance and passion. Had growing numbers of parents, consumers and professionals not stepped up to work together for a common cause, this service would not have come into existence. From the start, individuals and organizations put aside ideological and jurisdictional differences and focused on their shared concern, the well being of blind babies. The coalition of stakeholders that helped create this program established effective lines of communication with members of organizations and their boards of directors, as well as with individual parents, consumers, service-providers, administrators, policy-makers, politicians, and civil servants at all levels, those who felt powerless and those who held power. By working with all stakeholders, by speaking in one voice for what was needed, by being clear and organized, by addressing the issue from both the bottom up and top down, and in between, and by recruiting anyone and everyone who would listen and care, we collectively made a difference.
