Scarborough's Variety Village will soon host a unique program teaching social skills and recreational sports to children with autism.
Ontario's health promotion ministry also says the two-year project pairing Variety with the Toronto-based Geneva Centre for Autism will also address a lack of programs helping autistic children progress from a high-support clinical setting to community involvement with minimal support."By working together to foster a positive culture of health and well-being in Ontario, we are laying an important foundation for healthy future generations," Scarborough Southwest MP Lorenzo Berardinetti said in a letter announcing the ministry's $61,540 grant this week. It's expected that by next January, small groups of children will be trying a different sport and skills every week for 12 weeks.The ministry says these activities will lead to "further development of fine and gross motor skills, improved mental health with enhanced self-esteem, reduced anxiety, and better resilience to stress and increased self-awareness and instruction of safe practices and equipment use for physical activity." There is no comparable program anywhere, said David Kinsman, Variety's fundraising director, adding resources for children with autism are stretched because of rising demand. Options for recreation and sport for autistic children are "extremely limited" and none are combined with a program re-enforcing social skills, he said.