In an effort to draw public attention to the powerful challenges associated with autism, the month of April has been designated as Autism Awareness Month. With each passing year, we have seen increased popular and scientific attention to the biggest questions and mysteries associated with autism: What causes the disorder? Is there an autism epidemic? Can we effectively treat or cure autism?
We continue to make great strides toward refining our understanding of the origins, prevalence and best treatments for autism. Despite this progress, our cumulative knowledge makes abundantly clear only one fact: Answers to these seemingly simple questions are going to be complex.
Recent scientific advances suggest there are probably many different causes of autism and perhaps many different types of autism itself, with numerous genetic and environmental interactions underlying the disorder. Although there is mounting evidence that effective intervention can make a tremendous impact for those with autism, at present there is not one best medical, behavioral or educational treatment for the core social, communication and behavioral symptoms of the disorder across the life span.
Perhaps the most notable event during this awareness month was the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) release of a new statistic estimating that one in 88 children, some one in 54 boys, has autism. This CDC data is the best evidence we have to date that autism is a very common disorder. For perspective, this means there are probably more children with autism in our country than children with AIDS, cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, Down syndrome and muscular dystrophy combined. Ultimately, we do not know if this new higher estimate for incidence represents a true increase, an increase in identification and diagnosis, or the likely interaction of both factors.
While our estimates for the numbers of individuals with autism are hard to pinpoint with absolute certainty for many reasons, there is no question about the tremendous individual, familial, educational and societal costs of the disorder. Recently, researchers and advocacy organizations have estimated that individual lifetime disease-associated costs may be $2.3 million, with direct and indirect costs to our nation potentially exceeding $126 billion annually. While these figures are staggering, they also fail to take into account or adequately quantify the human costs of autism for individuals, parents and families.
Now that we are seeing autism in more than 1 percent of the population, effective identification and treatment represents a pressing public health issue. We know early diagnosis and intervention is critical, but we also must increasingly think of realistic enhanced systems of care for children, adolescents and adults with autism.
Ultimately, as this month of autism awareness draws to a close, we must ask how our new awareness of the human and societal impact of this extremely common disorder will drive us toward action. The costs of both inaction and ineffective action are probably more than most of us are willing to pay.
Read more:
New figures draw us to boost care for autism