US spends 18 times more than UK on autism research

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Not to go political, but that's probably because a socialized healthcare system doesn't reward the financial motivations to find new treatments or even a cure for a condition.

If a US company finds a way to enable autistics to live better lives or even prevent autism from happening, they will make money on their discovery. Nations that have more socialized systems put limits on profits, and that means investing heavily in R&D will not get a worthwhile reward.

A similar issue was made about Airbus compared to Boeing. Of course, Airbus is burdened with socialist policies that make it non-competitive to try and innovate, so the government kicks in money for R&D so Airbus remains competitive and innovative. Boeing is not similarly hampered, so there isn't the need for government to subsidize its R&D.

I don't know what the reason is, but the sad truth is that the US is the only country in the world that cares to discover new things. All other countries are too busy caressing their own egos and stealing from each other. I'm an admirer of American will to innovate and solve and discover, always have been. This is why I asked my parents adamantly to send me to English classes. I wanted to be informed of new advances in the US, and I was 5 when I noticed the difference!

Yes, its all very political isn't it, you can read it and get angry, then you re-read it and see the political manoeuvring being presented as journalism.

Look at the authors. This is an article written by an educational establishment, in concert with a psychiatric establishment, about themselves. They are jointly forwarding arguments that funding should be directed more towards Autism education & intervention research, rather than Autism medical research (no surprises there then). If you read the bios at the bottom of the page, of the organisations involved in the survey, they are all mainly education/intervention based. This article spends more time basically arguing for more of the available money to be given to them instead of to the medical people, than it does arguing for more money overall.

Once you see the hidden agenda behind this article, its bias becomes much more obvious.

Also, what their article doesn't point out, is that most of the money being spent in America is coming from multi billion dollar drug companies and other commercial entities, not from the American Government. And those companies only concern, is how much money they can make from the general public (which usually far overshadows the amount of money they spend on the initial research). To them the autistic community is a potential commodity to be plundered for more wealth, not people to be helped with their everyday problems.

The argument that profit driven research is somehow better than socially motivated research just doesn't hold water. The medical research being conducted in the UK is widely regarded as being World class research, of a high caliber. In commercial research, if a particular line of enquiry does not show the potential of good profits, then the scientists will most likely not get funding for that research. In The UK, and other European countries, research is judged by the potential benefits to mankind, not the potential profits. Therefore any line of enquiry that might be seen to be worth investigating can get funding to go ahead if there is a reasonable chance of worthwhile results.

I do agree that we should spend more money on Autism research in this country, £4.26 per Autistic person is pitiful really. But I'm not going to take sides in a spat about research funding between the psychiatrists/educationalists and the medical researchers.

_________________
Autistic dad to an autistic boy and loving it - its always fun in our house

I have Autism. My communication difficulties mean that I sometimes get words wrong, that what I mean is not what comes out.

Yes i think on the whole, America dreams bigger than the rest of the world. The UK is really just a mess... Although Brit's have done a lot of good stuff, many of them end up in America or bought and work for an american company.
The UK's situation is pretty sad, pretty sad indeed. But i am grateful for some things from the UK.

The UK is the first runner up. Especially with the BBC. And regarding Asperger's, Australia has shown admirable initiative. It's the only country in the world with clinics offering therapy for Aspies. The rest of the world just pass laws that repeat the DSM like a parrot, mindlessly.

Biology, YAY! Brain, YAY! Cognition, YAY!

the US spends the most for almost all scientific research and development so this doesn't surprise me in the least.

In america you can also get a bleach enema to 'cure' your child of Autism, they're not too popular in the UK.

A couple of weeks ago I read that Britain spends 28 Billion pounds on Autism research and various other things attributed to autism, education, medication and so on. Times 28 Billion 18 times, someone’s telling porky’s. Whether it’s the States or Britain telling lies, I’m pretty sure all those involved are enjoying a good life style from these funds.

A nice car, nice house and a good couple of holidays a year. It’s money generated by tax’s payers. It’s almost as if there is a bottomless pit of money certain clever clogs realize will always be there.

What upsets me is in the last hundred years or so since autism came on the scene, there is still no cure and no medication for the main symptoms of autism, with all the billions going on research into autism, no one can even put their finger on what causes the condition. (Some countries still think autism is a desease) In the last hundred years or so we are none the wiser.

All this money has given us no results, a researcher might spend 30 years looking in all the wrong places whilst collecting a nice fat wage at the end of the week.

I believe the real experts when it comes down to autism are those who live with the condition and can talk about their experiences. Why is there no money spent on researching those who live with the condition (adults) and asking them what they think and believe.

As far as I’m concerned, some people are living the good life from these funds whilst actually achieving nothing, a waste of money, where are the results?

We have gone from blaming the mother in the 1950s up until the late 70s (Refrigerator Mother) for the behaviour seen in autistic children, and then over to the father giving out his sperm at too late a time in his reproductive cycle. Even the grandfather has been blamed.
Oh, maybe we can blame it on a vaccine, I know, lets spin it on bad genetics. Meanwhile, there are still no results and certain experts are living it up, money well spent.

It’s sad.