Parents Demand Better Support for Special Needs Students

The heartbroken parents of a Hamilton boy who lost his life in a bus accident are calling on Ontario to address the shortcomings in school support for children with special needs.

A seven-year-old boy who passed away after being struck by a bus driver in downtown Hamilton last month would still be alive today if he had been attending school full-time, according to his father.

Chris Simao shared that prior to the tragic incident that took Max’s life, he had only been going to school for half days because there wasn’t an educational assistant (EA) available to help him stay for the entire day.

Max, who was non-verbal and had autism, and his mother Emily were heading home from school on the afternoon of December 11 when he slipped and was hit by a Hamilton Street Railway bus.

“Max should have been in school that day,” Simao stated during a news conference at Queen’s Park on Wednesday.

“We were told this would just be a temporary modified schedule for a few weeks. Those weeks turned into a month-and-a-half, and despite our constant inquiries about when Max could return to full-day school, we were told it was being sorted out.”

Simao emphasized that he doesn’t hold the bus driver or Max’s school or board responsible for what happened. He believes the real issue lies with the funding levels provided by the Ministry of Education for classroom support aimed at children with special needs.

“We’ve discovered that exclusions like this are all too common under funding structures that disproportionately affect students with special needs,” he remarked.

Max Simao tattoos Chris and Emily Simao point to matching tattoos they got in honour of their seven-year-old son Max, who was struck and killed by the driver of a bus in Hamilton on Dec. 11, 2025.

The father of four joined politicians and representatives from the Ontario Autism Coalition (OAC) to raise awareness about this issue as he feels his family has been “robbed and cheated out of a future with Max.”

“We are so devastated and angry. He should still be here with us,” said Simao, who along with his wife got tattoos featuring their son’s name and handprint on their arms.

“We can’t bring Max back, but we can speak his name, tell his story, and advocate that every child with disabilities is no longer excluded or sent home. This should never have happened again.”

Simao fondly remembered his son as “a sweet little boy who brought joy and happiness to everyone around him.”

He noted how Max would communicate either through “his smile that could light up your world” or “that classic Max smirk.”

According to his dad, Max loved three things: his i Pad, school, and Christmas-something he’d just begun showing interest in more than ever before.

“Now Emily and I will never get the chance to hear him say one day ‘I love you mom and dad’ or feel those hugs he gave us as expressions of love.”

Max Simao Emily Simao holds a photo of her seven-year-old son Max, who was struck and killed by the driver of a bus in Hamilton on Dec. 11, 2025.

‘A province-wide pattern’

Kate Dudley-Logue from OAC mentioned that Max’s exclusion from full-time schooling due to lack of support isn’t an isolated case-it shouldn’t be normalized.

“The truth is this has become an everyday issue across this province; students with disabilities are facing exclusions regularly which keeps them out of classrooms,” she explained.

Kate Dudley-Logue from Ontario Autism Coalition Kate Dudley-Logue speaks during a Jan. 21 news conference at Queen’s Park.

Over the past two years, the coalition surveyed families with special needs children throughout Ontario finding that one-quarter are not attending full days at school due mainly because schools lack proper resources to safely accommodate them.

The survey also revealed roughly one-third of students with disabilities faced some form of exclusion during the 2024-2025 academic year-with six percent not attending any classes at all.

This adds up to over 115 thousand students experiencing these exclusions across schools in Ontario according, to Dudley-Logue.

‘Ford says province hiring more educators’

After an unrelated press conference Wednesday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford pointed out that these issues date back over eight years ago under Liberal governance.

“My government has raised funding levels specifically aimed towards education resources by over $200 million now totaling $700 million.”

“As I’ve always said, this is continuous improvement; we’re providing more than any administration ever did before, and we’ll keep it going,”said Ford.

DOUG FORD ONTARIO PREMIER DOUG FORD SPEAKS TO MEDIA ABOUT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S DECISION REGARDING CHINESE EV’S AT QUEEN’S PARK IN TORONTO ON WEDNESDAY JANUARY 21ST ,2026 THE CANADIAN PRESS/NATHAN DENETTE

SIMAOS REBUTTAL HAS SOME STRONG WORDS AIMED TOWARDS PREMIER BASED OFF OF HIS COMMENTS: 
“MY SON IS DEAD SO THEY AREN’T DOING ENOUGH AND THEY’VE HAD EIGHT YEARS.”

SIMAOS HAVE A STRONG RESPONSE AGAINST PREMEIR FORDS REMARKS: 
“MY SON IS DEAD SO THEY AREN’T DOING ENOUGH AND THEY’VE HAD EIGHT YEARS.”Marit Styles at QP newser Jan.21 ONTARIO NDP LEADER MARIT STILES SPEAKS DURING A JAN.21 NEWS CONFERENCE AT QUEEN’S PARK.

‘NOT A UNIQUE STORY’, SAID STILES”

ONTARIO NDP LEADER MARIT STILES CLAIMED THAT GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO STEP UP MORE RESPONSIBLY DURING WEDNESDAY’S PRESS GATHERING : 
“THIS IS NOT A UNIQUE STORY. WISH IT WAS THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS ACROSS THIS PROVINCE FACE THIS EVERY DAY. EXCLUSIONS ARE NOT NEW AND THEY AREN’T UNCOMMON,” SHE ADDED.

Stiles stated:”Parents like Chris & Emily plus advocates like Kate have sounded alarms regarding these issues since long ago. To fix unfair treatment faced by special-needs students requires adequate investments into our education systems.” <p With files from Toronto’s Allison Hurst

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