As Autism Awareness Month is marked globally, new insights are drawing attention to the often-overlooked financial pressure faced by families raising children with disabilities.<\/p>\n
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According to United Nations Children’s Fund, around one in ten children worldwide, nearly 240 million, live with some form of disability. Yet access to education remains a major challenge. Of the 244 million children aged between six and 18 who are out of school, disability is among the leading barriers.<\/p>\n
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In South Africa (SA), the situation is particularly stark, with an estimated 70% to% of school-aged children with disabilities not attending school, largely due to cost and limited access to specialised support.<\/p>\n
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Reeona Chetty, Head of Advice at Vouch, says a diagnosis such as autism can dramatically reshape a family\u2019s financial future.<\/p>\n
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\u201cMany families are not prepared for the immediate and long-term costs that come with raising a child who needs ongoing care and specialised support,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n
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These costs can be significant. Specialised education in private settings can range from R6 000 to R12 000 per month ($320 to $650), excluding additional expenses such as therapy, medication, assistive devices and transport.<\/p>\n
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For many households, the financial strain is compounded by income loss. One parent often has to reduce working hours or leave employment entirely to provide care, affecting both day-to-day finances and long-term savings.<\/p>\n
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Chetty notes that families must plan not just for childhood, but for lifelong care.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIn many cases, children with disabilities remain financially dependent well into adulthood. That means planning must extend beyond the parents\u2019 lifetime,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
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To manage these realities, experts recommend structured financial strategies. These include setting up special needs trusts to safeguard assets, ensuring adequate life insurance cover, and making legal arrangements for long-term guardianship.<\/p>\n
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Building a stronger financial buffer is also critical, with families advised to set aside up to 12 months\u2019 worth of income to cover unexpected medical or care-related costs.<\/p>\n
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Ultimately, Chetty says, financial planning in this context goes beyond budgeting.<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s about securing dignity, stability and quality of life for the child, not just now, but into the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
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–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":32583,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-32582","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"As Autism Awareness Month is marked globally, new insights are drawing attention to the often-overlooked financial pressure","published_date":"2026-04-21 08:04:58","news_description":"As Autism Awareness Month is marked globally, new insights are drawing attention to the often-overlooked financial pressure","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32584,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/32582\/revisions\/32584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=32582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}