Parents say the cost of raising a child with autism has sky-rocketed
A North Yorkshire charity has put together a new report which suggests families pay over £215 extra a month
A North Yorkshire Charity has found that it costs families and carers of children with autism over £2605 each year- to cover everyday essentials that meet their children’s needs.
Autism is a lifelong developmental disability affecting children’s communication, behaviour and how they process touch, sounds and tastes (known as sensory processing.) The research, by Dr Chloe Blackwell at the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough University and York children’s disability charity, Family Fund, looks at the higher cost of everyday, non-specialist, household and play items like furniture, clothes and toys, which need to be commonly replaced and of higher quality, for neurodiverse children’s needs.
Parents and carers raising children with autism need to spend at least 60% more for higher quality items, replaced more regularly, due to how their children use them.
"People need to be more aware of how hard it is when things do go wrong"
Charlotte Claydon has two children, one of them being 13-year-old Grace, who is autistic.
Her and her family took part in a study.
Charlotte tells us increased costs are largely due to the constant need to replace items autistic children wear out quicker than their neurotypical counterparts.
“She Grace gets very angry, she’s had iPads and she gets angry and throws them and breaks them,” she said.
“At the moment she’s on a cheaper phone because I can’t afford to keep replacing screens on iPads and things like that.
“She likes certain clothes so I usually have to bulk buy so it’s all the same for sensory issues, so that costs money.”
Charlotte said: “People need to be more aware of how hard it is when things do go wrong or they need certain things.
“I have another child and they suffer when you’ve got to keep paying out more.”
She added how rising costs are only adding to her stress: “The cost-of-living has risen so much that it’s so hard to actually afford to get everything done and pay all the bills you need to pay as well.
“Obviously I work full time and I’m a single parent and it is hard work.”
Dr Abigail Dunn, head of policy research and evaluation at Family Fund in York, says Charlotte’s case, while distressing, isn’t rare.
“We have stories about how families will tell us about how their child has to eat a particular brand of food and if you can’t get hold of that particular brand of food the child just doesn’t eat.
“That means that families are having to make cutbacks in other areas and other things that most families just take for granted.
“This is part of the reality of living with autism.”