Who’s been taking care of them before now?
Since they’ve always been around. We just haven’t noticed them?
My question as well.
Could it be that autism is largely an invented illness?
No need for the state to come in and try to "help".
There's some financial and legal support while they are young, but not much when they get older.
By "legal support" I mean certain accommodations that schools must make to adapt to autistic children.
It will be tough, but it's better that each family work this out on their own, with the help of families in similar situations, rather than through taxing others and forcing people into specific programs that by and large won't work.
Part of the problem is increasing social isolation, which is in turn driven by the erosion of extended families and the shift of population to ever-larger cities. Small town, neighborhood, and family networks used to provide most of the support. They still do, where they still exist, but that has become a sometimes thing.
I have an autistic nephew. I don't know where he ranks on the scale; he expresses himself well and is a great reader on a very narrow range of random subjects that trigger his interest. But has severe social liabilities and cannot handle strangers, crowds, noises, or surprises, etc. He will never drive. He is managing for himself in a small apartment where he can walk everywhere, and is working steadily in a sheltered job environment. He is a fine young man with a serious handicap, sensitive about but accepting of his condition, and trapped. His parents live nearby and keep an eagle eye out; the apartment is a recent development, and has been positive all around.
It's a tough situation. When the parents pass, all bets are off unless the older siblings or another relative steps in. This is in a small city where the pace of life is not overwhelming; I cannot imagine managing something like this in a major metro area where one is totally car dependent and both parents work.
Their families, God willing.