Autism Costs May Top $2 Million Per Person

[dragonwolf]

The more I research Aspergers, the more I'm on board with the theory that we're the next stage of evolution.

I've always wondered why people do things that are so incredibly wasteful and illogical, just out of stubbornness and to spite the person who's suggesting it. I didn't know that I had Aspergers, but when I started being prescribed medication for depression and anxiety something became clear to me: I'm being medicated so that I'll be more passive and tolerant of all the bullying and ridiculous BS that surrounds me. The more Aspies, the better!

Star Trek had it wrong! Vulcans aren't a different species, they're evolved humans!

 

[Tarragon]

I just glanced through the article (for NT's the translation for that statement is speed read end to end before you people could get to the end of the first paragraph! )

The comments* are the usual dirge of idiotic people commenting when they don't have the correct facts. Is it me, or is this an irritating repetitive pattern found everywhere where comments on articles like this appear?!!!!!!!!! :/

Ok, it is a pile of baloney. It is skewed, and as always designed to provoke a reaction. I find myself hard pressed to even react anymore.....

Its articles like this that subliminally (or more openly) go down the dark path of judging who is and who is not worthy of life in this crummy society.

Actuary is the word this article is exploiting. And every human brewing on the planet has a value placed on it by those vampires. The expression is "to know the price of everything and the value of nothing"...


(*comments on the article site, not this one!!!

 

[KassieMac]

Star Trek had it wrong! Vulcans aren't a different species, they're evolved humans!

I like that!

Here's a brain-twister: In TOS, Spock once used a Sherlock Holmes quote, attributing it to "one of (his) ancestors" ... but in the movies we see Enterprise accomplish time-travel ... so the 'speculation' I heard was that during Pon Far (sp?) Spock time-traveled back to the 1800s and Holmes was actually one of his descendants?

I'm not trying to restart the debate over which characters are Aspies ... we can't possibly know (and most people insist they're fictional ) ... but I think the reason I'm drawn to these characters is: they're intelligent, logical, good at problem-solving, and see connections that others resist for emotional reasons ... which tend to be Aspie traits. In addition, people actually listen to them and admit when they're right.

Wouldn't that be a step towards evolution?!?
============

In all seriousness, I wouldn't want to see All Aspies Everywhere ... but it would be progress if we weren't in the minority ... if more of us were in positions of authority ... where our traits were common enough to not be seen as abnormal or to be ridiculed ... common enough that we weren't bullied due to jealousy but respected for our contributions ... at that point Aspergers truly wouldn't be a disability anymore, once it was no longer used against us. That's my Utopia (oops, wrong thread!)

 

[dragonwolf]

I like that!

Here's a brain-twister: In TOS, Spock once used a Sherlock Holmes quote, attributing it to "one of (his) ancestors" ... but in the movies we see Enterprise accomplish time-travel ... so the 'speculation' I heard was that during Pon Far (sp?) Spock time-traveled back to the 1800s and Holmes was actually one of his descendants?

I'm not trying to restart the debate over which characters are Aspies ... we can't possibly know (and most people insist they're fictional ) ... but I think the reason I'm drawn to these characters is: they're intelligent, logical, good at problem-solving, and see connections that others resist for emotional reasons ... which tend to be Aspie traits. In addition, people actually listen to them and admit when they're right.

Wouldn't that be a step towards evolution?!?

If you like the time travel brain twisters, you'd love the short story All You Zombies (it's actually not about zombies).

An old friend of mine loved Spock, because she could relate so well with him (she's Aspie, too), so it doesn't surprise me that you're also drawn to him. And yeah, it'd be nice to have my views listened and respected, instead of dismissed as "wrong" or whatever, because my connections/views tend to be unconventional. It'd be nice to not have my inverted views seen as a detriment (theoretically, that's why I got into software development, but in reality, it hasn't quite worked out that way).

 

[KassieMac]

If you like the time travel brain twisters, you'd love the short story All You Zombies (it's actually not about zombies).

An old friend of mine loved Spock, because she could relate so well with him (she's Aspie, too), so it doesn't surprise me that you're also drawn to him. And yeah, it'd be nice to have my views listened and respected, instead of dismissed as "wrong" or whatever, because my connections/views tend to be unconventional. It'd be nice to not have my inverted views seen as a detriment (theoretically, that's why I got into software development, but in reality, it hasn't quite worked out that way).

Thanks for the rec, I'll look for it.

Are you sure we don't share the same brain?? I studied programming because it was the only thing that ever made sense to me. I briefly considered psychology, but I knew I really didn't want to do that for a living -- I just wanted to figure out how to fix myself. It's nice to finally realize that I don't need to be 'fixed'.

AND, I could start a whole new thread about the rest. Star Trek-wise, I haven't seen all of TOS, but I've seen most everything from the 2nd movie forward. I'm currently obsessed with Holmes & Watson, and I've heard several comparisons to Spock & Kirk, and Data & Geordi (I always adored their interactions). Basically, the one who is baffled by most people and his close friend who helps him navigate amongst them. I love that concept.

 

[Flinty]

If this formula applied to all people with ASD in Canada...well, let's say it's slightly less than 1% of people so I can use the number 300,000, then multiply that by 2 million, we get a cost of 600 billion dollars, or about one-third of Canada's annual GDP. That totally sounds wrong.

And some of that money is getting distributed elsewhere, rather than being an actual financial cost to society.

 

[Nitro]

If this formula applied to all people with ASD in Canada...well, let's say it's slightly less than 1% of people so I can use the number 300,000, then multiply that by 2 million, we get a cost of 600 billion dollars, or about one-third of Canada's annual GDP. That totally sounds wrong.

And some of that money is getting distributed elsewhere, rather than being an actual financial cost to society.

I think my wise crack about statistics sums a lot of it up

 

[paloftoon]

To complicate things up more, if some autistic support was "freed up", there should be more transparency for funding for mental institutions and rehabbing prison inmates. This extra funding would probably end up going corrupt though if autistic support is cut. . .

 

[Tarragon]

Why don't we just tax stupidity? Easiest way to raise money going I think

 

[Nitro]

Why don't we just tax stupidity? Easiest way to raise money going I think

I can hear the complaints already...from the stupid...

 

[King_Oni]

If this formula applied to all people with ASD in Canada...well, let's say it's slightly less than 1% of people so I can use the number 300,000, then multiply that by 2 million, we get a cost of 600 billion dollars, or about one-third of Canada's annual GDP. That totally sounds wrong.

And some of that money is getting distributed elsewhere, rather than being an actual financial cost to society.

Keep in mind it's 2 million within a lifetime of someone. As already pointed out in a table I posted at the start of this thread, yearly/monthly expenses are relative to say... welfare checks or current disability checks (assuming Canada has something similar).

Also; yes it's being distributed elsewhere, it's not a full 2 million pricetag. It seems the easy way to just look at how much something costs. But the money isn't used as some kind of savings account. It's money that goes back to the government in taxes. It also goes back to services that actually make sure people have a job. In a sense it keeps the economy running, even if it's a hefty pricetag. But that isn't mentioned in the article.

And honestly, as much as I might be interested in the full research, I"m not really interested in spending money to buy said research paper (priorities and such, lol). And with that the more and more I read posts here, it just makes me wonder how poorly written this article even is. It gives a half truth. And by that people form opinions worrying that the expenses on supporting autism are getting out of hand like this. Granted, it was to be expected, but it's funny how people here tend to have a different (and in my opinion; better) perspective on this than the aforementioned comment section on the site I got this article from. On AC people wonder how these numbers are made up, on Disabilityscoop people just yell how this is a financial burden.

Thinking about it; Considering that some on this forum actually don't get support, have a job and a family. It would mean that if 2 million is an average, that based on averages, some people will receive say... double the average, to make up the average against those who don't get any support. And that's where a government (or whomever is paying these support bills) should really question why and what makes it all this costly. As much as I'm not a person to put a pricetag and value on someones life, I think one can wonder if the expenses made are justified; not by spending them on a person, but if the price of care isn't inflated a bit and ends up in the pocket of too much management and corrupt folks involved with these "support companies".

 

[AsheSkyler]

Heehee, good to see I'm not the only one making autistic Vulcan jokes. I've been making my mom laugh lately by lamenting my lack of pointy ears.

$2,400,000 per person?? If they lived to just 70, that's roughly $34,000 a year, including infancy! What the heck is so bloody expensive? Do those special blankets get their heaviness from heavy metals like gold? Last I checked there aren't any complicated surgeries involved to work on autism, and even if they weren't coming out with cool apps with realistic pricetags for nonverbal autistic people there's still little icons and stuff to communicate with them if they're able to be that communicative. Is there something to autism I'm not aware of, like space age swimming pools for rehabilitation or exercise?
By my calculations, and not including the cost of medical care of old age or accidents, and not accounting for inflation, from 20 to 80 I would cost about $350,000 in basic bills, food, necessities, and pleasures for those sixty years if I lived alone, (my art supplies is cheap and I live simple) and those first twenty years was a pretty standard childhood with standard expenses. If I lived with another, I might add an additional $50-$100 each month (because I'm very low maintenance) and be $72,000, again excluding accidents, inflation, and old age illnesses, and that's also not counting income I could make selling artwork.

*EDIT*
Okay, my husband whose family is chock-full of nurses confirms the cost is when you must pay out-of-pocket for them to live in a home because it can cost thousands of dollars a month, and hiring a sitter or caregiver isn't much cheaper. But still, that'd have to be only with the severe cases, shouldn't it?

 

[Joel's Hear]

i want my 2.4 mil up front. Thank you.