What is Autism?
About Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) exhibit a range of impaired social, communication and cognitive skills that can significantly impede their participation in school, their families and society overall.
- ASD affects 1 in 100 Australian children – this also means ASD impacts 1 in 100 Australian families.
- We estimate that as of June 2019, there are over 13,000 Victorian children under the age of 13 who have ASD. This is a conservative estimate based on 2019 population and education statistics.
- ASD prevalence figures are growing. More children are diagnosed with ASD than with AIDS, Diabetes and Cancer combined.
- Boys are diagnosed with ASD 4x times more often than girls. Girls are generally diagnosed with ASD at a later age than boys. They mask their challenges better and can be misdiagnosed with a mental health condition rather than ASD.
- Whilst there is no ‘cure’ for autism, many children with ASD are capable of significant development with suitable therapeutic support.
- Autism is a wide range spectrum disorder: it is different from individual to individual. Some children with ASD can be very social and achieve academically.
- Early intervention therapy can reduce the potential social costs over a person with ASD’s lifetime by up to $2 million.
To learn more about the organisations and information sources available on Autism, please visit our Online Resources.
The Potential Impact of Early Intervention Autism Therapy
The potential social savings impact of autism with early intervention therapy
While community awareness has improved and much more is known about autism, we still have a journey ahead to bring equal, accessible, economically viable, inclusive and quality education for all children on the autism spectrum. This is our purpose.
Our programs
Since 2004, Learning For Life Autism Centre has remained focussed on the critical early years of children with autism. As our L4Life children have grown, so too have our services, which include primary school as well as lower secondary school support. Learn more about our early intervention and therapy services.
