Using Ontario Autism Program funding for a GPS tracker

If you receive an OAP childhood budget or interim one-time funding, the Ontario government’s published list of eligible expenses includes a GPS tracking device in the technology category, alongside items such as a tablet, a laptop and a printer.^[1]

The list allows one technology item every two years to help your child reach their goals.^[1] Ontario also suggests consulting a professional to help choose the right technology.^[1]

Read the current list before buying anything: Ontario Autism Program eligible and ineligible expenses.

Worth knowing what is on the other side of that list. Ineligible items include electronic equipment and devices intended for everyday use and entertainment.^[1]The distinction that matters is whether an item supports your child’s goals, which is a judgement the programme makes, not us.

If your funding is core clinical services rather than a childhood budget, technology is treated as part of your child’s treatment plan and needs to be recommended by your core service provider.^[2]

In practice that means a letter of recommendation, submitted with the invoice on your core clinical services expense form. The letter is written by the provider delivering or overseeing your child’s services, and they must be a regulated professional, for example a Registered Behaviour Analyst, Speech-Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist or Psychologist. In writing that letter, the provider is taking responsibility for the item supporting the treatment plan.^[2]

So if this is your stream, the conversation to have is with your provider, before you buy. Details: Ontario Autism Program core clinical services.

We do not know whether the ongoing service plan for a GPS tracker is eligible, or only the hardware. The published list names the device. It does not say clearly what happens with a monthly subscription attached to it.

We have asked and we will update this page when we have an answer worth repeating. Until then, treat anyone who tells you confidently either way with suspicion, including us.

One practical consequence: a device with no ongoing plan removes the question entirely, which may be simpler to put through a budget than a device with a monthly fee attached. We sell one of those, so weigh that sentence accordingly, and ask your programme rather than taking our word.

SSAH is a separate Ontario programme. To be eligible, a child must need extra support beyond what is expected for their age because of a physical or developmental disability, be under 18, live in Ontario, and live at home with their main caregiver.^[4]

It funds three kinds of support: help with day-to-day activities, including support “to keep the child safe in their daily routines”, activities that build skills, and respite for caregivers.^[4] It is a different programme from the OAP, so it is worth checking even if you already receive OAP funding. Whether it would cover any particular item is a question for the programme, not for us.

Special Services at Home.

For questions about what your specific funding covers, Ontario’s Central Resource Team can be reached at oap@ontario.ca or 1-888-444-4530. They can answer questions about eligibility that we cannot.

If you are outside Ontario, it is still worth asking your case manager or paediatrician about having wandering documented in your child’s file. Wandering has its own diagnostic code, Z91.83, and families have told us that having it recorded is often what turns a request into an approval. That is families’ experience, not a rule we can point at.