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Parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) face many challenges, but one of the biggest challenges Canadian families face are the long wait times for treatment. In a new study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics on Monday, researchers have found that eliminating these wait times would be a win-win solution for both families and health care costs. Timely treatment, they found, doesn?t just have long-term benefits for the child, it?s also more cost-effective for taxpayers.
Conducted by Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, the Children?s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, and University of Toronto, the study is the first of its kind to analyze the costs behind wait times for the government-funded intensive behavioural intervention (IBI), which provides 20 to 40 hours of therapy to kids with severe autism each week. The researchers found that starting treatment immediately after diagnosis resulted in $53,000 in savings in social services costs for the province for each person with ASD over their lifetime. These social services include income support and other supports for people with developmental disabilities. They also found that removing wait times would save society $267,000 per person with ASD over their lifetime, as the child would have a higher probability of living independently as a result of the early treatment. ?This analysis reinforces that investing in timely access to IBI improves outcomes for children with ASD,? says Mel...