Survey to assess cost of autism to families

The cost of raising an autistic child is set to be assessed as part of a national survey by a researcher, who found the average annual cost to families is €6,600.

Last winter, Áine Roddy, an Irish Research Council and Hardiman PhD Scholar in Health Economics at NUI Galway, conducted a pilot study of 31 families.

She discovered the average cost for out-of-pocket expenditure per family over the previous 12 months due to having a child or children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was €6,614.78.