Educating Autistic Kids Must be a Priority

  The picture is of my son, Liam. He has high-functioning autism. He attended a mainstream kindergarten class in North Carolina and failed. My son and I then moved to Indiana in search of a more supportive school system. My son attended a classroom with other autistic children and did wonderfully.

We are now living in North Dakota which has  incredibly supportive school systems. My son is in a regular classroom and has an aid who shadows him throughout the day. She reinforces positive behavior, keeps him focused, and calms him down when he get overstimulated. He is now attending all of his classes but gym.

With 1 in 88 children diagnosed with autism every year, autism has become a global epidemic. The cost of caring for autistic children in the U.S. is estimated at $137 billion a year, according to WebMD. The sooner a child is diagnosed and receives help, the better his chance to be able to function normally in society.

Federal funding for research into the cause of autism needs to be increased, and states must make education of autistic children a priority. We as a society can pay a little more now for research and prevention, or we can pay much, much more later for the lifetime support of our special-needs citizens