By Morgan MontalvoWOAI News
Autism experts and advocates from across the country are in San Antonio for a two-day conference to identify future health care needs for a growing adult population diagnosed with the condition.The gathering is hosted by the local Autism Treatment Center.
Ivy Zwicker, the center's director, says as America's population trends older, a correspondingly larger percentage of today's autistic children will become tomorrow's autistic adults. She says with attention focused on Autism's childhood phase. the public - and policymakers - are largely unaware of the continued meed for services that an aging autism population will require after age 18.
"Now what"? Zwicker says the community should ask itself. "About 80 percent stay home after high school. They're underemployed and they're under-funded, so this is a crisis for us."
Zwicker says even at current public health care funding levels, autistic adults in need of transitional quality-of-life services, such as supervised or assisted living, often are placed on waiting lists for eight to 12 years.
She says proposed federal and state health care cuts touted by politicians will severely affect parents of autistic children and adults, many of whom leave the workforce to become full-time caregivers.
According to recently compiled data, an estimated 30,000 people in greater Bexar County are diagnosed with some form of Autism Spectrum Disorder. The per-person lifelong cost of autism-related care and related services, says Zwicker, ranges between $1.4-2.4 million.
Nationally, 1 in 68 children are diagnosed with Autism. she says.
GRAPHIC COURTESY: TACANOW.ORG