How expensive is autism?

Here is a very sobering post by my colleague and friend, Pat Harkins MD. She walks the walk...

How expensive is autism?

Posted by Patricia Harkins in Uncategorized

The short answer is “very”.

The long answer is, well, long

Note – I use ASD to mean “autism spectrum disorder”.

Let’s start with therapy. I estimate the average ASD child needs Speech/Language therapy for about 5 years and Occupational Therapy for about 3 years. That is 16 “therapy years”. This is about $300K to the family or insurance. The cost to public schools is about $4K per year for 13 years. Cost in babysitters because they can’t go to a regular daycare is about $5K to 26K per year needed, perhaps for average of 10 years...

In our family’s case, my husband stopped being employed when our son was 3 because of his needs

....read more at

http://autismwhisperer.net/2011/07/30/how-expensive-is-autism/