The Costs of Autism
$29,000 plus.
$38,000 to $43,000 plus.
$32 million.
$35 billion.
A lot of money, right?
- $29,000 plus is for “direct medical costs, such as physician and outpatient services, prescription medication, and behavioral therapies” for an autistic person per year.
- $38,000 to $43,000 is for “direct non-medical costs, such as special education, camps, and child care” per year.
- $32 million is the cost of taking care of an autistic person over her or his lifetime.
- $35 billion is the cost U.S. society pays to take care of all autistic persons over their lifetime.
So reports Michael Ganz, Assistant Professor of Society, Human Development, and Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, in a chapter (“The Costs of Autism”) in his newly published book, Understanding Autism: From Basic Neuroscience to Treatment (CRC Press, 2006). A summary of his research can be read in a press release from the Harvard School of Public Health.
As for the “indirect costs” of autism:
Indirect costs equal the value of lost productivity resulting from a person having autism, for example, the difference in potential income between someone with autism and someone without. It also captures the value of lost productivity for an autistic person’s parents. Examples include loss of income due to reduced work hours or not working altogether. Ganz estimates that annual indirect costs for autistic individuals and their parents range from more than $39,000 to nearly $130,000.
Yes, “indirect costs” for getting Charlie what he needs add up to a figure between $39,000 - $130,000.
Does this mean we need to “cure” autistic persons, not only because “autism is a devastating disorder” but, even more, because society can’t handle the cost?
Every $ my husband Jim and I have spent, are spending, and will spend on Charlie is the best thing we could do with our money, down to the last penny, and not to “recover” Charlie from autism.
Because he’s Charlie. Because he’s worth it.
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POSTED IN: Disability Rights, Money, Treatment
9 opinions for The Costs of Autism
Ballastexistenz
Apr 27, 2006 at 3:03 pm
I still want to know the cost of providing signage, nighttime lighting, and other accommodations for the sighted.
mom-nos
Apr 27, 2006 at 5:42 pm
“Lost productivity” is a loaded phrase. I have a full-time, well-paying job and I do it well. But my most productive time is the time I spend with Bud.
Time with my interesting, funny, smart, playful boy: Priceless.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Apr 27, 2006 at 6:03 pm
Ditto, Mom-NOS!
I’m trying to research some of those costs you mention, Ballastexistenz……
ebohlman
Apr 27, 2006 at 8:59 pm
Note that the “lost productivity for parents” figures are based on a comparison of the costs incurred by a couple with an autistic kid and the costs incurred by a childless couple, not the costs incurred by a couple with a neurotypical kid.
As for “difference in potential income for a person with autism and a person without it” the hidden assumption is that income is allocated on an objectively meritocratic basis. In reality, one can calculate the difference in potential income in a male associated with each inch of height below six feet. I’m also pretty sure that they’re using the standard 75%-incidence-of-MR figure in these calculations.
If they had used mean *wealth* as a measure, they’d have found an actual advantage to autism, although their statistical judgment would have been questionable; wealth distribution in the US is so skewed that any group that includes Bill Gates is going to compare favorably to any group that doesn’t.
Camille
Apr 27, 2006 at 11:31 pm
Who is factoring in the taxes paid and the benefits to society by autism spectrum people?
Are we going to divide all the autistics below IQ 90 and call them a burden and everyone above not, well the majority of the 1 in 166 are above 90 IQ… and a few of them are billionaires providing employment for masses of people.
If you look a the bell curve, this country has as many people below 80 IQ as as it does above 120 IQ. Lots and lots of people in both groups.
Is someone working out the cost to society of the 100 IQ gang-bangers and drug dealers who are very likely not autistics? Is autism a sort of vaccine against becoming a drug dealer/bank robber? If so, isn’t that a good thing? How many autistics grow up to be rapists and pick pockets? How many grow up and become porno producers? Maybe some, but I think the big burdens in this world are, proportionately, normal people.
This putting a price on autistics makes me sick. It’s a cheap shot.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Apr 28, 2006 at 12:04 pm
A question that needs to be considered is to what use do those figures for the “annual cost to society of caring for autistic persons.” I have seen these sorts of million and billion dollar figures cited as evidence for why autism needs to be cured–because the “cost to society” is too great.
I should also note that Prof. Ganz lists, for comparative purposes, the “estimated annual costs of other conditions, including Alzheimer’s disease ($91 billion); mental retardation ($51 billion); anxiety ($47 billion); and schizophrenia ($33 billion).”
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