by Deirdre Imus
FOX News March 28, 2011
April is Autism Awareness Month, and you may have already heard countless reports about the shocking fact that 1 in 110 – a full one percent – of American children have autism.
Because the majority of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are still under the age of 20, a great deal of attention has been focused on education.
But the problems facing individuals with autism does not end when they age out of school. In many ways they become even more demanding, difficult and costly.
In 2009, a Washington Post op-ed put forth a thought-provoking question: What coming social expenditure will cost more than a third of this year’s budget for the Department of Health and Human Services and be larger than the entire budget of the Energy Department?
Answer: The bill for the tide of autistic children entering adulthood over the next 15 years, an estimated $27 billion annually…read more…“
