Research Autism – a UK website that takes an evidence based view of autism research – discusses a report recently released by New Philanthropy Capital. The report, entitled A Life Less Ordinary, is one of the most thorough and thoughtful pieces of Philanthropy I have read on the subject of autism.
The take home statistic is shocking. People think autism is in vogue at the moment but the money tells the truth: £3.70 per head is spent annually on autism research compared to £1,000 per head for cancer. To me, that says it all.
Please pass on a copy of this report to all your friends, families, employers – anyone you know who makes charitable contributions needs to read this report.
Left Brain Right Brain 
I have a quibble. They say 1 in 100 has autism, but they also say 6% of people with autism are employed. They are mixing statistics and making an unfounded implication that 94% of the children now diagnosed with autism will be unable to find work. The 6% figure clearly applies to a cohort selected based on much narrower criteria. The same applies to the mental illness figures. The fact of the matter is that most people with autism (as currently broadly described) have productive and presumably happy lives. The goal should be to make sure that is true for as many autistic people as possible. For that to be possible, the general public will have to assume competence. If the general public sees a person with autism as only having a 6% chance of being employable and a 20% chance of not being mentally ill, how likely are they to presume competence and give the autistic person in front of them a fair shake?
VAB, those are very good points. I didn’t read the whole article – only the first page, but that was enough. They are mixing apples and oranges, which seems to be the case for most studies or information on autism. It’s a moving target.
The term “recovered” or “cured” is often used to describe children who continue to develop and adjust and make their way in the “normal” world. Today’s 1 in 100 group will include a lot more of these recovered or cured children. The 6% figure probably applies largely to group of people with Kanner’s or classic autism.
I might read more in this report, but it is most likely rubbish.
VAB – why do you assume mental illness equates to non-competence?
Siggy – coming from someone who thinks there is a statistical difference between 1% and 1% (still waiting for your answers genius – https://leftbrainrightbrain.co.uk/?p=651) , your points are bizarre. You describe this report as trying to hit a moving target and then go on to describe a situation they apparently missed which has no support or evidence whatsoever. Weird.