Autism Costs May Top $2 Million Per Person

[King_Oni]

Autism Costs May Top $2 Million Per Person

The lifetime cost of caring for just one individual with autism can be as high as $2.4 million, researchers say.

Expenses range from $1.4 million for individuals with autism alone to $2.4 million for those on the spectrum who also have intellectual disability, according to findings published Monday in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.

For the study, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the London School of Economics analyzed previous research on people with autism and their families to assess the overall costs and economic impact of autism.

The resulting estimates include everything from the price of medical treatments to costs related to schooling and employment supports. The figures also factor in lost wages for individuals with autism — who often struggle to find work as adults — as well as their caregivers.

Spending on special education, housing during adulthood and indirect costs like lost productivity were the biggest contributors to the million-dollar price tag, the study found.

Researchers said the findings highlight the need for interventions specifically geared toward helping adults with autism and approaches early in life that may lessen the need for long-term care.

“These numbers provide important information that can help policymakers and advocacy organizations make decisions about how to allocate resources to best serve this population,” said David Mandell of the University of Pennsylvania, the study’s senior author, adding that it’s “imperative that we examine how high-quality intervention can reduce burden on families.”

Source Autism Costs May Top $2 Million Per Person - Disability Scoop

Makes me wonder if the expenses made are all expenses justified. Let alone if the prices of services they require are justified. As well as the fact that society perhaps is evolving fast(er) and some of our autistic peers who need more support. Afterall, we're seeing an increase in diagnosis now, which might or might not have to with more people having difficulties getting by in life.

 

[Ste11aeres]

It says "The figures also factor in lost wages for individuals with autism."
!!!
How the heck are you supposed to calculate that? Since NTs have different jobs and earn hugely different amounts of money.
What, did some parent just say "If my son didn't have autism, he would be a surgeon who makes $200,000 a year, instead of being a grocery store bagger. I just know he would have been that surgeon. I just know it!"

 

[King_Oni]

That's a good point.

Though perhaps (and thus this is speculation on my part) they went with minimum wage-ish situations rather than full blown heavily qualified jobs.

What I'm interested in is the life expectancy is this. Do these people grow up to reach age 70? Age 80? Age 40? What exactly is "their entire life". Obviously, 2 million in the lifespan of a deceased 20 year old is more on average per year than the 2 million cut off for a 70 year old.

I did a breakdown to see how the averages stack up. Perhaps more for my own curiosity (though I'm assuming at least one other member on this board will be equally curious about it; aspies and numbers and such)

Looking at these numbers... yes, the numbers at a young age are insane. But the lower they get over a longer life, the more they come in line in what people actually spend in a month on living without having all this care.

Just look at your own situation, see how much you spend a month on food, rent, gas, insurance and subtract that from the cost per month in this. These are costs most people make regardless if they're the demographic of this research. After all, the total sum is made up out of all expenses, including a monthly income by the the national or local government. (well, and one can hold an argument that there's often sales tax, which actually would decrease the expense, since that's one way to contribute to the governments revenue), and not just some kind of dispensation on missed wages and medical bills.

It's still a lot though.

On the topic of all these expenses in medical care and such; If they'd cut down the expenses for support, less professionals would be needed, and thus that would probably cost a few jobs here or there. And perhaps drive up the price of the ones still in business.​

 

[gonzerd]

Let's keep this rant short and economically viable. I like numbers (mmm, numbers) but I won't even acknowledge the work of these economist bastards by looking into it and if I'd ever meet one of those soul-snatching zombies I'll slap him or her in the face with a Windows version of Excel. End rant.

 

[Ste11aeres]

One thing I found weird was that the article was written in a manner that made me feel as if one individual person was footing the bill for all the expenses throughout the autistic person's life. (presumably a parent?)
Most people have their parent paying for their expenses while they are an infant, child and teenager, then as an adult they pay for their expenses, or a working spouse does so,in old age they might have whatever retirement arrangement is in place, or one of their own children could be helping out, etc. During some periods they might receive disability, or unemployment, or some form of Government assistance, being paid for by taxpayers, etc, etc.
While it is true that autistic persons, as a group, might be more likely to be more dependent on their parents for longer than most, it is false to assume that all this money for the autistic person's entire life is coming out of one person's pocket. And if it's coming out of multiple person's pockets, what's the big problem? The money's not vaporizing into thin air (which would be a true economic crisis). No, it's being paid to various persons and helping those various persons have jobs and make a livelihood.

 

[dragonwolf]

Geez, make us sound like invalids, why don't they?

I wonder how much that cost would go down if people would just accept that not everyone thinks or sees the world the same way? Or maybe if we could be more open about being Autistic, instead of having to cover it up and "pass," without fear of losing jobs/job opportunities?

Of course, it's never the majority people that need to consider a change. There's always some scapegoat that should be changed, and when that doesn't fix things, they move on to another scapegoat...

 

[Ste11aeres]

That's a good point.

Though perhaps (and thus this is speculation on my part) they went with minimum wage-ish situations rather than full blown heavily qualified jobs.

What I'm interested in is the life expectancy is this. Do these people grow up to reach age 70? Age 80? Age 40? What exactly is "their entire life". Obviously, 2 million in the lifespan of a deceased 20 year old is more on average per year than the 2 million cut off for a 70 year old.

I did a breakdown to see how the averages stack up. Perhaps more for my own curiosity (though I'm assuming at least one other member on this board will be equally curious about it; aspies and numbers and such)

View attachment 11320
Looking at these numbers... yes, the numbers at a young age are insane. But the lower they get over a longer life, the more they come in line in what people actually spend in a month on living without having all this care.

Just look at your own situation, see how much you spend a month on food, rent, gas, insurance and subtract that from the cost per month in this. These are costs most people make regardless if they're the demographic of this research. After all, the total sum is made up out of all expenses, including a monthly income by the the national or local government. (well, and one can hold an argument that there's often sales tax, which actually would decrease the expense, since that's one way to contribute to the governments revenue), and not just some kind of dispensation on missed wages and medical bills.

It's still a lot though.

On the topic of all these expenses in medical care and such; If they'd cut down the expenses for support, less professionals would be needed, and thus that would probably cost a few jobs here or there. And perhaps drive up the price of the ones still in business.​

In your country, do they use decimal points when writing numbers that are in the thousands?

 

[dragonwolf]

In your country, do they use decimal points when writing numbers that are in the thousands?

According to his profile, he's from the Netherlands, so yes. It is a bit confusing when the numbers are in USD then denoted with a dot instead of a comma.

 

[King_Oni]

In your country, do they use decimal points when writing numbers that are in the thousands?

I don't think we do, lol... but I do. I figured with all these large numbers going on, it might provide a bit more clarity. But clearly, using points and comma's is just as much of a weird thing across the pond as miles, gallons and pounds (for the record; Kilometers, Liters and Kilograms here)

I do know that we don't use decimal points to indicate cents in money. Over here we do use a comma for that. So it would be 1572,95 if we're talking about fifteen hundred seventytwo and ninety five cents (and I just hope I didn't butcher the grammar on spelling it out)

 

[Ste11aeres]

I don't think we do, lol... but I do. I figured with all these large numbers going on, it might provide a bit more clarity. But clearly, using points and comma's is just as much of a weird thing across the pond as miles, gallons and pounds (for the record; Kilometers, Liters and Kilograms here)

I do know that we don't use decimal points to indicate cents in money. Over here we do use a comma for that. So it would be 1572,95 if we're talking about fifteen hundred seventytwo and ninety five cents (and I just hope I didn't butcher the grammar on spelling it out)

Here, we use commas when counting in the thousands, and decimal points to indicate cents in money.

 

[King_Oni]

Here, we use commas when counting in the thousands, and decimal points to indicate cents in money.

Yeah, I figured...

You weird people across the pond (though I have no clue if that's just an US thing or if more countries do this)

 

[dragonwolf]

Yeah, I figured...

You weird people across the pond (though I have no clue if that's just an US thing or if more countries do this)

According to a map I found, north America and the parts of Asia that use a Latin alphabet and numerals use coma for thousands, while Europe uses the dot.

 

[Nitro]

In a recent statistical survey,it was found that 35% of statistics were wrong...

 

[KassieMac]

In a recent statistical survey,it was found that 35% of statistics were wrong...

That's odd, I heard that 79.44% of all statistics were made up on the fly …

 

[King_Oni]

Right...

So back on-topic, rather than arguing over comma's and dots.

 

[Ste11aeres]

Did anyone read that panicked paragraph by one commenter who said that at current rates of increase, by 2025 one out of every two children might be autistic?

 

[Nitro]

Did anyone read that panicked paragraph by one commenter who said that at current rates of increase, by 2025 one out of every two children might be autistic?

I don't know how poorly or well the outcome would be,we know our own rules and we may make more educated approaches to to decision making.We rely on factual evidence,not what someone's opinion is of what is going on. We don't tend to rely on emotion as we don't possess "normal" ones. We look at total pictures,not just the tiny bits of one. We have the ability to go to extreme focus if necessary to perform a task...
We understand what it is to have an autistic meltdown and would steer clear of the ones having it...We are very efficient at repeating tasks,so lots of work would get done properly. We have a direct wire to the biological world.
I would find the outcome favorable as possibly the autistic could better our version of medicine.
To me that is a very positive thought

 

[Ste11aeres]

Two problems to this article:
1. It doesn't say who is footing the bill. (as I said, it's written in a way to suggest that one single individual (a parent?) is saddled with that burden, but how likely is that to be the case?)
2. It doesn't say (for the sake of comparison) how much money is spent (whether by that person himself or by various persons) in the support of a "normal" person.

 

[Nitro]

I will need a bit more research to form an opinion

 

[KassieMac]

Did anyone read that panicked paragraph by one commenter who said that at current rates of increase, by 2025 one out of every two children might be autistic?

I don't know how poorly or well the outcome would be,we know our own rules and we may make more educated approaches to to decision making.We rely on factual evidence,not what someone's opinion is of what is going on. We don't tend to rely on emotion as we don't possess "normal" ones. We look at total pictures,not just the tiny bits of one. We have the ability to go to extreme focus if necessary to perform a task...
We understand what it is to have an autistic meltdown and would steer clear of the ones having it...We are very efficient at repeating tasks,so lots of work would get done properly. We have a direct wire to the biological world.
I would find the outcome favorable as possibly the autistic could better our version of medicine.
To me that is a very positive thought

The more I research Aspergers, the more I'm on board with the theory that we're the next stage of evolution.

I've always wondered why people do things that are so incredibly wasteful and illogical, just out of stubbornness and to spite the person who's suggesting it. I didn't know that I had Aspergers, but when I started being prescribed medication for depression and anxiety something became clear to me: I'm being medicated so that I'll be more passive and tolerant of all the bullying and ridiculous BS that surrounds me. The more Aspies, the better!