An earlier post discussed a Canadian woman who left her adult son in the care of the government. CTV has an update:
The mother of a man with severe autistism says she still feels the guilt of leaving her son, out of desperation, at a government office. But Amanda Telford knows in her heart it was the right thing to do.
CTV News first told you about this story five months ago. Today, CTV News caught up with Amanda and her 20-year-old son Philippe once again to find out where life has taken them.
Her story captured the nation's attention for weeks and shone a spotlight on the desperation that many parents of children with autism are feeling . Now, Telford’s son has a temporary place to stay and a grassroots movement is forming to push for a Family Bill of Rights.
“We struggle with a lot of guilt over what we felt we had to do and a lot of anger over what we were compelled to do,” says Telford, outside the east-end Ottawa school her son attends. The stress lines are almost gone from her face. Twenty years of caring, round the clock, for her severely autistic son had taken a toll on Telford and her family. But last April, out of desperation, she made a heart-wrenching and very public decision. Telford, who is a social worker, left Philippe at government office for adults with developmental disabilities.
