Some can overcome and be more successful than typical kids. Others struggle more.

Some can overcome and be more successful than typical kids. Others struggle more.

Both if my twins are on the autism spectrum (both diagnosed classic autism). It's been 3 years since they were diagnosed. One of them is still quite atypical, he has a lot of social and emotional concerns. The other one has gotten to the point where just consider him extremely quirky. I believe that both of them will grow up, go to college, meet quirky women and have quirky little families. Neither one of them will fit the "normal" mold but that's ok.
The number one thing that I credit with a lot of their progress is ABA therapy - and along with that, my husband and I learning to parent in an ABA way.

The earlier you get services for them the better. My granddaughter is not on the spectrum any more.

It depends on a few factors: age, how severe the form of autism is, available effective treatments (varies). This week, I asked my 4 year-old daughter's special ed pre-k teacher how many of her 28 students go into mainstream classrooms. She replied "Not many". I've gotten skeptical about people telling me how it's all going to work out. They point out the success stories while a lot of kids simply disappear as adults behind the closed doors of their parents' homes. I can give you names of lottery winners, too, but I don't know the names of people who blew thousands of dollars on lotto and never won a jackpot.

Stats-

The studies detailed the fates of a national sample of 20-somethings who had received special-education services in high school.

The first study focused on employment. Researchers found that only about half of those with autism had ever held a job since high school, and only about a third were currently working.

Even worse, young adults on the autism spectrum were less likely to be getting a paycheck than people the same age who had other kinds of disabilities. More than 80 percent of those with speech and language difficulties reported having at least one job, for example, while 62 percent of those with intellectual disabilities had ever been employed.
When kids with autism did find work, they made less money. On average, young adults with autism earned $8.10 an hour, while those with other kinds of impairments -- including low IQs, learning disabilities, and trouble speaking and communicating -- were paid between $11 and $12 an hour.

The second study focused on living arrangements. Researchers found that only 17 percent of young adults with autism, who were between 21 and 25 years old, had ever lived on their own.

By comparison, 66 percent of kids with learning disabilities like dyslexia had lived by themselves, as had 62 percent of those who were emotionally disturbed, a category that includes anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder and eating disorders. Even those labeled as intellectually disabled, meaning they had a low IQ and slower mental processing, were about twice as likely to have lived on their own as young adults with autism.

http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/20130918...