The Cost of Early Intervention in Australia

The Sunday Telegraph (Australia) reports :

PARENTS of autistic children are having to sell their homes or move overseas to access crucial treatment that costs up to $50,000 a year. [Figures are in Australian dollars. -- ed.]

Federal government guidelines recommend early intervention with a "minimum of 20 hours a week over two or more years" but its funding covers just an hour a week, advocates say.

"You're looking at $30,000 to $50,000 a year," said Nicole Rogerson from Autism Awareness Australia.

She said the government's "Helping children with autism package" of $6000 a year for two years is a "Band-Aid on a gushing wound" and only wealthy families can afford early intervention.

"It's a travesty," she said.