Parents make better choices with autism interventions

Unfortunately, more and more children are diagnosed with autism and parents need to choose from the expensive treatment options they have in hand. A new review by the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill focuses on providing parents with proper autism-related information, to ease parents` decision. Allison Smith of Pawtucket, R.I. was involved in this study. According to a study, released in 2007 and published in the Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, the proper treatment of autism costs $3.2 million per person. However, the Autism Society believes that if early diagnosis and effective interventions are made, these can reduce the costs by two-thirds. “Parents often pay for interventions that have no evidence behind them”, said Samuel L. Odom, FPG director and co-head of the review. “This report will allow them to make the best choices”.