Two young autistic people from Brossard waited at home for three weeks, unable to go to school because of the strike at Autobus Longueuil.
“My daughter is falling apart. She asks me 70 times a day when she will be able to go back to school,” says Génésie Paquette-Chouinard.
His two eldest children, Laurie, 18, and Tommy, 15, have autism spectrum disorder. They therefore do not attend their neighborhood school in Brossard, but are instead in a special “relationship” type class at André-Laurendeau high school in Saint-Hubert.
On March 21, an indefinite strike was called by Autobus Longueuil drivers, affecting some 1,500 students on the South Shore.
Mme Paquette does not have a car. She cannot drive her children herself.
“It would cost me $50 a day from Uber. I don’t have the means,” laments this single mother who works as a beneficiary attendant.
No return
Her two teenagers are independent enough to stay home alone, but not to take public transit.
“The teacher didn’t really know what to do,” says Ms.me Paquette, who thus remained in contact with the school.
She says she left two messages for the school administration to find an alternative. For example, she hoped that her children could temporarily benefit from the sedan transport for handicapped students that they used a few years ago.
However, she did not get back.
Laurie and Tommy therefore spent three weeks without being able to go to school, while consistency is essential among young autistic people.
“When there is a disruption in the routine, it can take weeks to get over it,” she explains.
Mme Paquette had also tried to solve the problem by reserving adapted transport from the Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL), but was told on the phone that the service was not offered to get to school.
Contacted by The newspaper, the RTL claimed a communication error. Such a service can indeed be organized since another student has already been entitled to it since the start of the strike.
For its part, the Center de services scolaire Marie-Victorin (CSSMV) also speaks of a “flaw in the circulation of information”. The costs of paratransit will be assumed by the CSSMV.
Penalized
Laurie and Tommy will be able to return to school next Tuesday or Wednesday.
“What I find unfortunate is that it is often children with special needs who are penalized because it is rare that services are offered in their neighborhood school,” recalls their mother.
At press time, neither Autobus Longueuil nor the Unifor union had responded to questions from the Log.