**3. Economic impact**

For 'low-functioning' individuals with ASD, the lifetime cost to society is estimated to bein excess of £1. 4 million and these figures are similar internationally [7]. Of course, the cost for quality of life for the individual and their family is much higher. For example, 86% of parents of children with disabilities have to pay above average childcare costs and 72% of these families have given up work or reduced their working hours, because of childcare problems [9] and only about 15% of adults with ASD are in gainful employment [79]. The potential positive impact of effective interventions is enormous.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the intervention market is booming [17, 32]. As governmental investments into ASD services are increasing, fad treatments abound. In fact, the struggle for a slice of the market has been called the 'Autism Wars' [31]. Primary care, allied health, social care, and education professionals have a key role to play in protecting families and individuals affected by ASD from fads and ineffective, controversial, or even dangerous treatments that are peddled by self-proclaimed autism experts for commercial reasons [15].
