Autistic Children Bullied - Parents Bear Costs

Children With Autism Are Often Targeted By Bullies

The story aired on NPR is not s surprise to any parent of an autistic child. What you may not know is that the parents of autistic children are left the bear the costs.

In this article the bullying endured by Abby got so bad that her mother pulled her out of school and replaced that with home schooling. Patricia Mahoney says the home schooling went well but, she understood that Abby was not getting the social skills she needed. Mahoney says the school has helped a lot.

Home schooling Abby and then finding a school that actually helps autistic children learn is a key issue. There are extra costs associated. There was an article about the cost of autism and how mothers of autism found themselves at an economic disadvantage. 

Autism Caregiving Costs Hit Mothers’ Income More

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania found "Mothers of children with autism earned 56 percent less money - almost $15,000 per year - than moms of children who didn't have a health problem, and 35 percent less money -nearly $7,200 - than moms of a child with a health issue other than autism."

A few people are blessed with the resources to stay at home and afford the costs associated with caring for an autistic child. Most of us are not. The drag on family resources is significant and it affects a significant segment of the population with one out of just over 80 children in this country diagnosed as being on the Autism Spectrum.

There are places you can go for help. I'm on the board of one of those places. I serve on the board for the FOCUS Center for Autism. Another is Autism Speaks.