Everyone
As we mark Indigenous Disability Awareness Month (IDAM), we’re honoured to highlight the work and voice of Lori Gauthier, an Indigenous mother of four autistic sons, long-time advocate, and a former AutismBC board member. Lori has contributed to our northern community through many roles, including helping us foster joy and connection as a judge in our Pumpkin Carving Contest.
Lori has lead transformative work in Northern BC as part of a co-developed Indigenous-led pilot program with the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD). The initiative, Talo Nadleh-un Resources, with community in mind, uses a family-centered, culturally grounded approach to support children and youth with support needs in Nak’azdli Whut’en and surrounding areas. While funding for the pilot program is currently paused, Lori continues to actively engage in her community to meet the evolving needs of local families.
We asked Lori to share more about her inspiration, lived experiences, and hopes for the future of inclusive support in rural and Indigenous communities.
What called you to co-developing an Indigenous-led support model for children and youth with diverse needs in your community?
What called me to this work was that when I decided to move my children to our community in 2018, I did so because I wanted them to be connected to their culture, language and traditions. I missed out on that growing up in a big city. Shortly after moving here, I complained to a coworker about the lack of basic services, and when she suggested that I move to the city with my children, I was devastated. I almost began to cry. The thought of having to choose between raising my children on the same land their ancestors have called home since time immemorial or moving them to have access to services every other child receives is not fair. Then I got angry. Either way, I knew my children were going to lose. To ask a family to make that choice seemed so wrong to me. And there are many families like mine who are forced to make this decision all the time. It’s sad, really.
How have your intersecting identities shaped the ways you advocate, lead, and co-create support systems?
I believe that my lived experience as a parent has taught me that there is always a way to accomplish things in a manner that works for everyone. It has also shown me that true inclusion means embracing diversity. I think at the end of the day, it all comes down to genuinely caring, and respect for one another.
What has it meant to be part of the AutismBC community, and how has it shaped your vision for what support can look like?
Having organizations like AutismBC has done so much for me, especially living in a rural community. Knowing that I am not alone and don’t have to face things alone has made a huge difference in my life and my work. If I have a question or am looking for a specific service, it’s comforting to know I can reach out to places like AutismBC, and they can help, does a lot for my mental health as a parent and also when beginning this work.
The Talo Nadleh-un Resources initiative is deeply rooted in community voice, cultural knowledge, and relational ways of being. What makes this approach unique?
The safety and flexibility for families. As Indigenous people, we don’t need people coming in and telling us what our kids need any longer. We also don’t need more involvement from MCFD, which is why it was essential for us to maintain control over what we do or don’t do. Families don’t have to jump through the hoops they typically would, or leave feeling a certain way about it. The families we support don’t have to tick all the boxes, and neither does our programming.
Our programs and supports are community-led. We really want to empower families and the community to be a voice for our children. They know what is best for them. We created a working group to guide our work. It consisted of professionals in the community and surrounding area, a parent, local leadership (including the mayor of Fort St. James,) and an elder. I also consulted with elders and knowledge keepers, as well as families, all the time. Their input really guides everything we do.
How are you integrating both Indigenous and Western perspectives to support neurodivergent children and their families?
We integrate Western perspectives with our traditional ways of being, utilizing the Two-Eyed Seeing principle, because we recognize the need for both. We live in a world where we are constantly trying to strike a balance between the two. We understand the need for assessments to identify areas where support is needed, but we also believe that once these needs are identified, they can be met more traditionally and sustainably. For example, rather than sitting at a desk working on a child’s fine motor skills, they could be out on the land gathering medicines or berries. With the lack of services in our community, these are the types of things we can do to fill these gaps. We also understand that many services and funding sources rely on assessments and data, which is why it is essential for families to have access to them as well. We strive to make these services accessible in a culturally safe and trauma-informed manner.
What steps are you taking to ensure your community’s needs continue to be met in culturally respectful and sustainable ways?
I do what I can to ensure our children and families receive the support they need by removing barriers that may hinder their access to support in a way that works for them. We are also very mindful when creating relationships with the various professionals that come into our community to work with our children. Ensuring that professionals who come into our community do so in a respectful way was identified as one of the top 5 needs in a survey we conducted in our community.
We want to ensure that there’s an understanding of our way of life and child-rearing practices in our community. For example, traditionally, children were everyone’s responsibility. In our culture, family systems are close-knit, and cousins are often raised more like siblings. Elders also play a significant role in child-rearing. Everyone has a place in our community, regardless of their abilities and differences. This is a practice observed in our clans and potlatch system. We are also very protective of our children. Knowing that they are our future, protecting them is vital to our survival. We are working on creating a short video soon, where information like this can be shared with professionals prior to them coming into our community.
How is your work creating pathways that are more equitable, accessible, and community-led?
A significant inequity is that we often have to travel outside our community for even simple things, such as seeing an optometrist or a pediatrician. Due to the long history of our children being taken, through residential schools, the sixties scoop, the millennial scoop, and through the foster system, we still hold a lot of trauma and distrust. Coupled with the systemic racism that we still face today, we must take control on a local level, ensuring every one of our children and families gets the support they need. I hope that through my work, I can demonstrate to the government that many children have unmet needs, and that there is no reason why these needs cannot be addressed where they are. My goal is to ensure that all children and their families receive the support they need to reach their full potential, regardless of their location or circumstances. To quote my aunt, and the former chief of Nak’azdli Whut’en, Aileen Prince, “There should be no child left behind.”
What does truly inclusive, trauma-informed, and community-rooted support look like for neurodivergent Indigenous children and youth?
It looks like meeting each individual family where they are at in a respectful and caring way. Just like every community and First Nation is different, every family is different. Yes, we may have needs, many needs, in common, but remembering that what works for one child/ family may not work for another is essential. We need to be flexible to meet the needs of every child and family. If we truly want to help a child, we need to establish genuine relationships with them and their caregivers, with respect at the heart of our interactions. Respect for the child, the family, and the community. For far too long, Indigenous communities have not had the same consideration and respect everyone deserves. As a parent myself, I know firsthand the challenges these families face in getting their children the support they need, and it should not have to be that way. Again, it is unfair to force a caregiver to choose between getting their children the help they need or raising them in their home. By doing this, you are just setting them up to lose.
As we recognize Indigenous Disability Awareness Month, what message would you like to share about the importance of honouring intersectionality?
We are all different, with diverse needs, dreams, and abilities. However, we are all equally important and deserve respect.
By making a caregiver choose between uprooting their family to get the supports they need and raising their children in a community that their family has considered their home since time immemorial, you are putting that entire family at risk. Often, they go without any support or funding in these rural, remote communities, which causes even more stress on the caregiver. I remember asking my aunt one time, “When can I just be a mom? When can I enjoy spending time with my boys and not have to worry about this email or that appointment or this application…” As caregivers, we often feel isolated and left to figure it out on our own, which can result in parents finding unhealthy ways to cope with this added stress.
On the other hand, if a caregiver decides to move their children to an urban community to have regular access to services, they are now away from their home, their culture, and the community that supported them. This puts them at risk as well, which brings with it a whole host of problems for that child and family. Children and families need support wherever they are, and if it is not possible to meet their needs using conventional methods, we can do so in a more traditional way. We should be thinking more like another elder of mine and a current Nak’azdli Whut’en band council member, Paul Bird, “when it comes to the kids, it’s always a yes.”
Do you have any words of advice for families and organizations supporting neurodivergent people in rural and remote communities?
Remember, our children are our future and vital to our survival. They are gifts from the Creator, and we need to care for them with this in mind.
I often say to people that I try to use my stubbornness for good. If your children are not getting the support they need, then it is up to you to get for them. Sometimes, this means thinking outside of the box, and sometimes it means returning to your traditional ways.
What guidance would you offer to other Indigenous communities seeking to develop culturally grounded and community-led support systems?
Involve your local leadership, including elders, caregivers, and other community members. If your children are not receiving the support they need, then your leadership must ensure it happens. My journey began in 2019 with a simple conversation with my aunt in the parking lot of our band office. It has been a long and often stressful journey, but it can be possible.
Closing Note
Lori’s initiatives are a powerful reminder of what can grow when communities lead from a place of cultural strength, lived experience, and deep care. Even with the formal pilot program on pause, her team continues to move forward, bringing assessments, planning land-based supports, and holding space for neurodivergent and disabled children to be empowered, supported, and connected in ways that honour their identities.
Rooted in Dakelh knowledge and guided by the principle of Two-Eyed Seeing, Lori’s work is helping to reshape what support looks like not only for Indigenous communities, but for everybody.
We’re deeply grateful to Lori for sharing her journey with us and for continuing to lead with compassion, connection, and vision.
Learn more about the Talo Nadleh-un pilot program: Nak’azdli Whut’en Children and Youth Support Needs Project
