What will happen in another 4 years? How can we go on like this? This is a national (and international) problem of monumental proportions. We have an entire new class of children who cannot be accommodated by the system: many are manifestly neurologically impaired. Meanwhile, the government and the medical profession sleep on regardless.
John Stone,
UK media editor, Age of Autism

The generation of American children born after 1990 are arguably the sickest generation in the history of our country.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

It seemed to me that with rising autism prevalence, you’d also see rising autism costs to society, and it turns out, the costs are catastrophic.
They calculated that in 2015 autism cost the United States $268 billion and they projected that if autism continues at its current rate, we’re looking at one trillion dollars a year in autism costs by 2025, so within five years.
Toby Rogers, PhD, Political economist

(UK) Somerset: Council to declare bankruptcy over $134M SPED debt

The end of childhood
Jun 23
1 min read

June 22, 2025, Wellington Today: Soaring special education teaching costs forcing council toward bankruptcy

SW England

BANKRUPTCY will have to be declared by Somerset Council next April unless the Government changes the way special needs education is funded.

The crunch will come on March 31 with the expiry of a dedicated schools grant (DGS) ‘statutory override’ introduced by Government five years ago.

The override allows councils to keep DSG overspends off their balance sheet, reducing the need for authorities to issue a section 114 bankruptcy notice when they were unable to balance their budgets.

Somerset’s DSG deficit it predicted to break the £100 million [$134M] mark by the end of the financial year as demand for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) teaching soars.