Investigation of raising burden of children with autism, physical disability and mental disability in China.
Chinese families shell out an extra 19 600 RMB a year for an autistic child—use this number to justify low-cost or free ABA slots.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Xiong et al. (2011) asked families across China what they spend on a child with autism. They also asked families of kids with physical or mental disabilities the same thing.
The team mailed short forms to parents. Parents wrote down medical bills, therapy fees, lost wages, and travel costs for one year.
What they found
Raising an autistic child cost about 19 600 RMB extra each year. That is more than the extra cost for a child with physical or mental disabilities.
The biggest hits were therapy and special-school fees. Families also lost income because one parent often quit work to run to appointments.
How this fits with other research
Zou et al. (2025) show China has added many autism policies since 2020, but community-level help is still thin. The 19 600 RMB gap Nina found helps explain why families still feel squeezed despite new rules.
Shawler et al. (2021) and Heald et al. (2020) zoom in on dental care. Two-thirds of parents say dentists turn them away or charge too much. These smaller, hidden costs pile onto the big yearly bill Nina reported.
Zhang et al. (2022) looked at U.S. families after insurance reform. Privately insured parents still say coverage is weak. The China and U.S. stories sound different, but both point to the same hole: paperwork and co-pays keep hitting families even when policies look good on paper.
Why it matters
If you write behavior plans in China, build cost checks into your intake. Ask who pays, how often, and what happens if a parent loses work hours. Share local subsidy lists and free training flyers up front. When you testify at school meetings, wave the 19 600 RMB number to show why free or low-cost sessions are not a luxury—they are survival.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
The family economic burden of raising autistic children, physical disabled children and mental disabled children were evaluated in China. 227 parents of children with autism, children with physical disability, children with mental disability and normal children were interviewed for children's costs, family income and economic assistance, etc. The medical cost and caring cost of disabled children were significantly more than those of normal children, and the education cost, clothes cost and amusement cost of disabled children were significantly less than those of normal children. Family income was only predicted by parents' education level. Families of disabled children received more economic assistance than families of normal children except families of autistic children. More children the family had, less economic assistance the family acquired. Compared with normal children, the raising burden of children with disabilities were as follows: children with autism (19582.4 RMB per year), children with physical disability (16410.1 RMB per year), children with mental disability (6391.0 RMB per year). Families of autistic children, physical disabled children and mental disabled children have heavier raising burden than families of normal children, they need more help from many aspects.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2011 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2010.10.003