The Thunder Bay Autism Hub is now officially open as of Wednesday.
Referred to as a “one-stop shop,” the website links Ontario families with autistic children to various helpful resources.
“I am the parent of an autistic child, and I know what it’s like to make this journey,” said Robin Cooper, a founder of Thunder Bay Autism Hub and member of the Kiwanis Club of Westfort. “It’s challenging. Every autistic person is different. There wasn’t really one place you could go. You had to do a lot of searching, and a lot of people don’t have the time. I thought, ‘this is something I can do to help other families.’ I wanted to pay back families who have helped me.”
Robin Cooper (left) announced the launch of the Thunder Bay Autism Hub with Kiwanis Club board member Terry Ferguson at a gathering Wednesday afternoon (Jacob Henriksen-Willis / June 25 2026)
Thunder Bay Autism Hub is backed by the Kiwanis Club of Westfort and was created by members of Autism Northwest, a nonprofit organization supporting parents of autistic children.
“The idea for this website came from [an Autism Northwest] meeting, where we were sharing a lot of information and someone said, ‘You know, we need a manual,’” said Karen Armstrong, treasurer of Autism Northwest. “So we got together with chart paper, Post-it notes, and a lot of pens, and threw ideas around. Then Robin [Cooper] took those ideas and turned them into this beautiful website.”
Cooper mentions that parents can visit the website at any point in their child’s autism journey-from diagnosis through late teenage years-and find valuable support.
Autism Northwest board members Karen Armstrong (left) and Dayle Klassen (Jacob Henriksen-Willis / June 25 2026)
“I’ve broken it down into sections and focused on what people ask the most questions about,” she said. “I’m trying to find all the little things that can make it easier for families. There’s such diversity, so any one service provider isn’t going to know everything, right? So this way we can work together collectively to share that information with the community.”
The website is intended to grow over time as more information and resources get added.
“It’s pretty amazing to see that it’s actually there,” Armstrong said. “From the privacy of your own home, you can reach out and get important information. [Robin’s] adding more stuff to it every day. It’ll be exciting to watch.”
Cooper noted that her next goal is adding more resources for autistic adults.
“Once you’re 18, you age out of the Ontario Autism Program; then you’re looking at disability services and things like that. That transition to adulthood is really important. You need to start at 16, not 18 because it does take a while. So those are the kinds of things I’m looking to add to the website as well,” she said.
Source link
