Newsflash!

MSN today has an article titled, "Study: Autism costs strain family finances". This is compelling news because before this article, I thought that raising a kid with other chronic disorders was a lot harder.

A hermit living in a tube under the ocean floor could have figured this one out. Who would have thought that health care costs to raise a kid with a disorder was going to cause strain on family finances?! Not me, that's for sure.

"They pay more for their kids' health needs, spend more time providing or arranging for that care, and are more likely to have money difficulties, the study found." Gosh, all that money that people give to Autism foundations and this is the kind of study they do? This is all they've figured out?

"Jacquie Mace, whose 12-year-old son, Austin, has autism, said the study presents a "very realistic" picture of the challenges affected families face." Who gives a shit? Like a parent raising their autistic child needs a study to cope with these issues. They live it every day!

"Autism typically involves poor verbal communication, repetitive behaviors such as head-banging, and avoidance of physical or eye contact. Affected children often need many more types of treatment than kids with other chronic conditions, including speech and behavior therapy and sometimes medication. Kogan said that may explain the disproportionate strain on their families." Kogan is a genius. How did he come up with that idea? And it's still not even conclusive. It may explain it. They are gonna do another study later to see if it is in fact true by ignoring them for 3 months and see which is harder and costs more.

Please, rush to the newsstands on Monday because the study will be appearing in December's Pediatrics.