According to Andre Picard on April 3, 2007, living with autism in the United States will cost approximately 3.2 million dollars over a single person's lifetime, while the combined annual cost for all individuals with ASD would cost the economy 35 billion dollars a year (Andre, 2007, p. xx). Several years later another study was done and in April 2012, an article entitled, When Love is Not Enough, concluded that the combined annual cost for all autistic individuals in the United States was 126 billion dollars (Cottle, 2012, p. xx). That is almost triple what it was in 2007. .
What is the reason for this? The reason that ASD is so costly is because the prices for the therapeutic interventions, other educational services, and the outrageous prices for adult ASD residential facilities, or in home caretakers. Additionally, the many new advances in technology and in the medical field are very essential, but also very expensive (Cottle, 2012, p. xx). All these have made the cost of raising an individual with ASD rise exponentially. Studies show that behavioral and other therapeutic intervention early in the life of a child with autism is critical for improving communication, forming relationships, decreasing maladaptive behavior, and developing independence. It is very important that people know how important interventions are. .
The financial impact on families of an autistic child is not all due to the medical expenses, and the therapy sessions. ASD often affects the family's income first hand. A study was done by David Mandell in 2012 on the economic impact of autism on families (Mcardle, 2012). It showed that there is a 27% drop in family's income due to autism (Doheny, 2015). His research showed that mothers of children with ASD earned an average of less than $21,000 a year (Mcardle, 2012), which happens to be 56% less than the mothers of children who have no health limitations, and 35% less than mothers whose children have another health limitation (Mcardle, 2012).
