"French-born Emmanuel Boumard, whose son Gabriel was born with cerebral palsy and displays autistic traits, has been battling the system for the 16 years of his son's life.
"I want to scream. You have to demand — or not so much demand, but ask — so many times until you get something, say speech or occupational therapy, that you give up with the system," he says.
"There was an incident three years back. We applied for, I think it was OT [occupational therapy] and we forgot about it. And two years later, we got a call saying, 'You've reached the top of the queue. You're entitled to services.' We didn't even remember we had applied!"
Cleary, Gabriel couldn't wait years for occupational therapy. "We went privately, sometimes from our own pocket, because we couldn't wait," he says.
"It is very difficult to find your way. You give up. You give up [on the system]. You don't want to deal with anyone because you get frustrated. How can it be changed? I don't know. It's a vicious cycle.'"
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