{"id":2174,"date":"2024-04-03T20:57:36","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T20:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coalition.autismdiscovery.org.seek2understand.org\/?page_id=9"},"modified":"2026-01-04T03:23:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-04T03:23:59","slug":"factory-home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/coalition.autismdiscovery.org\/","title":{"rendered":"Autism Discovery Coalition – A Novel Approach to Autism Care Home"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A Novel Approach to Autism<\/p><\/h2><\/div>

Learn More<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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The United States\u2019 current ASD care model is reactive, unsustainably expensive, and yields poor outcomes.<\/b><\/h4><\/div>

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a medical condition manifesting with significant disability and often severe co-morbid health conditions – including gastrointestinal disease, epilepsy, and metabolic abnormalities. The surge in prevalence cannot be fully explained by growing awareness or changing diagnostic criteria.<\/p>\n

The cost of ASD in terms of both human suffering and societal financial burden is immense.<\/p>\n

The prevalence of ASD has surged to an alarming rate over recent decades. Parents and people affected by ASD have few options and limited support from the medical, education, and human services sectors for a life-long and severe condition.<\/p>\n

Development of a new standard of care across these sectors is necessary to address the needs of this population to optimize outcomes for each individual.\u00a0Investing in better outcomes not only maximizes the human potential of each person and family impacted by ASD, it will profoundly improve the dismal financial forecasts associated with our current standard of care.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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1 \/ 31<\/div><\/div>

Estimated Number of Children Diagnosed with ASD United States (Source: CDC<\/a>).\u00a0 While genetic predisposition is a factor in ASD, genetic mutations alone cannot account for the unprecedented rise in cases.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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4.5 Years<\/div><\/div>

Average age of diagnosis of ASD for children in the United States (Source: National Autism Data Center<\/a>).\u00a0 Unfortunately, many interventions are most effective when started early, and delayed diagnosis worsens the likelihood for positive outcomes.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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$3.6M<\/div><\/div>

Estimated Lifetime Societal Costs Per Individual with ASD in the United States (Source: 2020 Study<\/a>). By 2029, If prevalence remains the same, the cost will grow to $11.5 trillion for the U.S., and if prevalence continues to increase at the past rate, the cost will grow to nearly $15 trillion.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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25-30%<\/div><\/div>

of individuals with ASD are nonverbal or minimally verbal (Source: Link<\/a>) Autistic people who cannot speak risk being underestimated, but with appropriate instruction and support, many learn alternative forms of communication.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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37%<\/div><\/div>

of autistic adults report having employment for 12 months or more.\u00a0 (Source: Study<\/a>) Many individuals with ASD face employment challenges due to behavioral and social interaction problems rather than their inability to perform assigned work tasks.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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7%<\/div><\/div>

of individuals with ASD have access to the residential supports and live outside of the family home (Source: A Place in the World Study<\/a>). Most adults with ASD live with aging parents and family members until they are no longer able to do so.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Autism Needs Our Attention.\u00a0 Now.<\/h2><\/div>

The U.S. is not adequately prepared for the growing number of adults with ASD.<\/h4><\/div>

The rising autism prevalence is not only difficult for individuals and families, it has profound societal impacts. It is not only an urgent public health concern but also as a policy question with respect to where resources will come from and how to mitigate and prevent the human suffering and worst-case financial scenarios.<\/p>\n

Modeling shows a total population-wide ASD cost in the U.S. of $5.54 (4.29\u20136.78) trillion\/year by 2060, accounting for inflation. Similarly, modeling shows that a pursuit of identifying and regulating environmental factors to optimize children’s brain health during critical periods of development to minimize the development of ASD could save trillions per year.<\/p>\n<\/div>