CAS Claims Baby of Handicapped Couple

May 1, 2012 permalink

Mississauga parents Maricyl Palisoc and Charles Wilton are fighting CAS for custody of their baby boy William. Both parents have cerebral palsy and CAS claims that makes them incompetent to care for their baby.

Here is CBC video of the Wilton case captured by Pat Niagara. YouTube and local copy. There was also a discussion on CFRB's Friendly Fire, May 1 (mp3).

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Disabled parents fight to keep newborn at home

Social workers demand child receive 24-hour care

CBC News, Posted: May 1, 2012 5:41 PM ET, Last Updated: May 1, 2012 11:02 PM ET

A disabled couple in Mississauga are fighting to keep their newborn son after social workers threatened to take the boy away unless he receives round-the-clock care from an “able-bodied attendant.”

Maricyl Palisoc and her partner, Charles Wilton, are the parents of a healthy month-old baby boy named William. Both parents have cerebral palsy, a disorder that limits their motor skills and slurs their speech, but has no effect on their cognitive abilities.

However, the Peel Children’s Aid Society is concerned about the couple’s ability to take care of their son and has expressed an intention to remove William from their home unless his parents secure 24-hour care from an able-bodied person.

The boy’s mother told CBC that she and her partner do not want to lose their son.

"We know that we need help, but we know that we are the best thing for our boy right now,” Palisoc said. "We both wanted to be parents and now we are, and we don't want do give anyone control of our family."

So far, the couple have been receiving the type of help that the CAS has demanded, thanks to Ryan Machete, a program co-ordinator with the Coalition for Persons with Disabilities, which provided the funds for the services since William's birth.

Machete said he’s not convinced it is necessary to spend $2,000 a week for a caregiver when Palisoc is able to change diapers, breastfeed and to “do the necessities” that come with caring for a newborn.

“From what I’ve seen when I’ve been at the apartment … there’s really nothing that she’s unable to do,” Machete told Metro Morning.

However, he said, it is possible matters will become more challenging as William grows, but that doesn’t mean she won’t be able to look after her son.

“I think that maybe when William grows up to be six years old and hurts his knee and needs his mom to pick him up, and he’s 60, 70 pounds, maybe that might be a little bit more difficult for her to do,” Machete said.

The Peel Children’s Aid Society says confidentiality rules prevent it from commenting on the case. The organization is due to meet with William’s parents on Friday to try to work out an arrangement.

With files from the CBC's Philip Lee-Shanok and CBC Radio's Metro Morning

Source: CBC

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Couple with cerebral palsy fighting to keep child

Posted By: Justine Lewkowicz jlewkowicz@astral.com · 5/1/2012 8:02:00 PM

Two Mississauga parents may lose their infant because they both have cerebral palsy.

Maricyl Palisoc and Charles Wilton are fighting to keep their baby after the Children's Aid Society threatened to take the boy away.

Cerebral palsy limits their motor skills and slurs their speech, but it has no effect on their cognitive skills.

CAS is demanding that the couple get an "able" person to provide 24-hour care for William.

Ryan Machete, a program co-ordinator with the Coalition for Persons with Disabilities, is now helping the couple with their struggle.

The organization has agreed to pay for care for three weeks and they are putting together a fundraiser to help with a long-term plan.

Machete says the couple is very able to care for the child.

"It's about perception," Machete says. "It's wrong. It's a perception that is incorrect of what the ability to provide care for this child is."

He compliments CAS on their work, which he calls difficult, and Machete says he understands they would be afraid to "let one slip by."

But he says the definition of an able-bodied person has things spiraling out of control.

"The definition of an able-bodied person, in their eyes, is a PSW, a personal support worker or it's anyone who doesn't have a disability," Machete says. "But one in six Canadians has a disability."

"It's a very dangerous precedent they're trying to set. It's going to really backfire because you're going to have 15 per cent of the population saying, 'Hold on a second, are you saying I'm not allowed to have kids?' "

Source: Newstalk 1010