Having an Adult Conversation About Autism

[Guest guest]

Having an Adult Conversation About Autism

By Deirdre Imus

Published March 28, 2011| FoxNews.com

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/03/28/having-adult-conversation-autism/#ixzz1\

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April is Autism Awareness Month, and you may have already heard countless

reports about the shocking fact that 1 in 110 – a full one percent – of American

children have autism.

Because the majority of individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are

still under the age of 20, a great deal of attention has been focused on

education.

But the problems facing individuals with autism does not end when they age out

of school. In many ways they become even more demanding, difficult and costly.

In 2009, a Washington Post op-ed put forth a thought-provoking question: What

coming social expenditure will cost more than a third of this year's

budget for the Department of Health and Human Services and be larger than the

entire budget of the Energy Department?

Answer: The bill for the tide of autistic children entering adulthood over the

next 15 years, an estimated $27 billion annually. "

Click here to read more about that article.

If elected officials think their states are in a fiscal crisis now, just wait

until the tidal wave of 1 in 110 individuals with autism reach adulthood.

Some experts have calculated the cost of care over the lifetime for one person

with autism can easily exceed $3 million. Conservative estimates for just one

group home placement can exceed $200,000 annually. State operated institutional

placements can cost as much as $1 million per year.

Anticipating their child’s need for almost constant support, parents are under

growing pressure and are making the heart-wrenching decision to place their

children in a residential facility once they reached adulthood.

Under existing state provided programs however, there are already long waiting

lists for disabled adults in need of residential housing, day programs and

full-time care.

Unfortunately, with funding cuts already decimating housing options for the

disabled and dwindling opportunities available, beleaguered parents will also be

forced to make the economically crippling decision to leave their jobs – which

also means losing their health insurance – in order to stay home to care for

their adult child with autism.

Clearly due to the economic realities there is a desperate need to create new

models if states are going to meet the needs of this rapidly growing population.

One such model is already working in a few states and provides parent/family the

option of a directed supportive home care program under Medicaid’s Home and

Community Based Services Waiver (HCBS).

This is a practical, cost-saving program that allocates modest funding to

families who can then hire caregivers for their adult child or provide the

support themselves. Rather than the state paying for the much costlier program

administered by a third party for-profit service provider – up to $200,000

annually for one group home placement – a parent directed program costing

approximately $24,000 a year would give families the ability to keep their

children in a home of their own.

There is no question that there will still be a need for long-term care

facilities for those disabled adults whose parents are too old, or incapable for

whatever reason, to care for their adult children.

Given the limited amount of funding available, it seems logical, in fact

fiscally prudent, to consider how we allocate Medicaid dollars and make a

supportive home care model, an option in every state for adults with autism.

As a compassionate nation, we spend trillions of dollars fighting for the

security, dignity and human rights for citizens in other countries. Let us not

abandon this country’s most vulnerable adults with autism who, without a “safety

net,”are facing a very perilous, isolated and bleak future.

Deirdre Imus is the Founder and President of The Deirdre Imus Environmental

Health CenterTM at Hackensack University Medical Center and Co-Founder and

Co-Director of the Imus Cattle Ranch for Kids with Cancer. Deirdre is the author

of four books, including three national bestsellers. She is a frequent speaker

on green living and children’s health issues, and is a contributor to

FoxNewsHealth.com. For more information go to www.dienviro.com