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"In the UK we have the NHS, and even though the waiting lists can be long (because these are the areas that tend to be the first to go during budget cuts), help is freely available."

Help is also generally, if not universally (I just can't guarantee it since this is often state-level), available in the US for all manner of developmental issues. And, uh, I didn't have any problems with waiting lists, either, with either of my children.

(The portrayal of the US as some sort of vast health-care wasteland often has more roots in politics than reality, which is not to say that there aren't problems, and even in some cases severe problems, but nevertheless, the problems are often greatly oversold because it benefits certain people very much to do so, a fact that should never be forgotten in these discussions.)

The biggest problem with these resources is people knowing they exist at all, and also, as mentioned by others, denial on the part of the parents. (My wife and I have generally avoided denial but we can certainly see it in our extended families.) My wife and I know of at least two other children that we believe are probably autistic or something (not trying to diagnose, just observing an awful lot of similarities to the other autistic children we know... you get to know many of them when you go to the meetups), but the parents won't even hear the word "autism", let alone have it checked.

In Massachusetts, and many other state, there is free therapy available to children under 3. That applies to any developmental delay.

I encourage any parent to make full use of these resources. Having experienced them first hand it's been nothing but positive.

From what I understand, Early Intervention services (not limited to autism) are available in all 50 states (funded federally through IDEA).

http://www.autismspeaks.org/family-services/tool-kits/100-da...

Thanks, you are correct.

Lacking comprehension of the problem and the causes, it seems reasonably carefull not to blindly admit your child into care based solely on the authoritive argument. Possibly, doctors cannot explain it propperly either and I'm under the impression that the causes aren't really known. Now, if the parent's lack of proficiency in childcare was responsible, that would be embareassing indeed, and if the percentage of autism

autism therapy isn't something where you "blindly admit your child into [another's] care".

It's typically family therapy -- really, a form of parent training. Our speech language pathologist was fond of reminding us that she spent one hour a week with our son and we spent over a hundred waking hours with him. I would say the best outcome of Early Intervention was that I had better techniques to help my son learn to communicate, express himself, respond to stressful situations, etc.

And the techniques are actually useful for all children, not just on the autism spectrum. I found I was able to use the same techniques to great effect when I taught math in the public schools.

As my parents said when they saw the therapy my daughter was receiving (and took part actively): "I wish we had this type of training when raising our kids".

If we have another child and they are neurotypical... we'll raise them using the same techniques we've learned in supporting my daughter. I encourage any parent who wants to build a stronger bond and more thoughtful kid to read up on play therapies (floor time, speech therapy, OT, PT)... it's been some of the most rewarding and fun time I have had as a parent.