MacKay, Tommy, Boyle, Jim, Knapp, Martin 
ORCID: 0000-0003-1427-0215 and Connolly, Michael
(2013)
A multi-strand investigation of microsegmentation of the autism spectrum to enhance the data on the economic costs and benefits of provision.
Good Autism Practice, 14 (1).
pp. 101-106.
ISSN 1466-2973
Abstract
It is often argued by professionals and parents that if money was spent on interventions and support early on for children and young people on the autism spectrum, then the cost of provision in later life would be much reduced. Although this seems logical, there is currently very little data to support the argument. Attempts have been made to ascertain the cost of supporting individuals with autism, but such analyses are fraught with difficulty and so robust data do not exist. The key problems arise from the fact that there is no definitive test for the different diagnoses within the autism spectrum and so confidence in the diagnoses of those within the spectrum is affected and data on prevalence can vary widely. The needs and costs will vary depending on the profile and comorbidities of the individual and so autism needs to be microsegmented. In addition, data on which interventions and educational placements are likely to be most effective for a specific individual are often missing or flawed and subject to debate and calculating the actual costs of such provision is hard. In addition, as the authors point out, informal support given by parents and carers is often hugely important and effective but difficult to cost and may be ignored in such analyses. In this paper, the authors describe their attempts to enhance the economic data on the costs (and benefits) of autism in Scotland.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bild/gap/201... |
| Additional Information: | © 2013 The British Institute of Learning Disabilities |
| Divisions: | Personal Social Services Research Unit |
| Subjects: | R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine |
| Date Deposited: | 08 Sep 2015 12:01 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Sep 2023 14:51 |
| Funders: | Scottish Autism |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/63451 |
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