Host: How does an autistic child change as they grow?

Peggy Halliday: At student s age their ability is very greatly. We know if that the students who have intensive early interventions with behavioral interventions have the best outcomes when they are adults and so, this is what we really want to look for but that still vary, depending on a their own deficits and their skill sets. So, another thing that we know is that the life time cost of care for a child with autism, once they go through their life span is about $2.

5 million and that cost is growing all of the time. The more we can do to make a person with autism independent as an adult, the better the savings is going to be in terms of the expense to society but also, just in quality of life for that individual.

So, in terms of what to expect, we know that the expectations for children with an autism as an adult are extremely varied. some of them will grow up to be practically indistinguishable from their peers and be able to get along without any support. Others are going to need limited support and others are going to need for care, down the road. It extremely varied but we do know that the more help we give these children doing the preschool years the more independent they are going to be later in life.