91,974
children are registered in the Ontario Autism Program
Parent Navigator
A plain-language explanation of this stage and the next steps available to your family.
Your child is 18 or older, beyond the Ontario Autism Program, which serves children and youth. The path now is adult developmental services through Developmental Services Ontario (DSO), along with adult income and disability supports. If you haven’t already connected with DSO, that’s the next step — it has its own eligibility and wait. This isn’t a dead end; it’s a different door.
Connect with DSO
Contact Developmental Services Ontario to begin or continue the adult-services process.
Review adult benefits
Look at adult income and disability supports your family may be eligible for.
Keep your records
Adult services need the diagnosis and assessment history — keep them together.
My child is 18 or older. What adult developmental services are available through DSO, and how do I apply? Please reply in writing.
SOURCE
Government of Ontario • 2024-01-01
Last updated: 2026-07-04
Evidence on this page
Key claims are paired with their source, evidence tier, and verification date so readers can inspect the public record directly.
91,974
children are registered in the Ontario Autism Program
22.5%
Only 20,711 children have active funding agreements (22.5%), less than one in four
US$2.4M
Lifetime support costs for autism with co-occurring intellectual disability can reach US$2.4 million per person (Buescher et al.)
1 in 50
According to the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth, about 1 in 50 children and youth aged 1 to 17 in Canada had an autism diagnosis
$965M
Ontario allocated $965M to the Ontario Autism Program in 2026-27
WHO recommends accessible, community-based early interventions for children with autism. Timely evidence-based psychosocial interventions improve communication and social engagement