Autism: The 5-minute readThe numbers are staggering: One in every 94 children in New Jersey has autism. Everybody is touched by autism. In schools, the number of children classified with autism has increased more than 30-fold in the state since 1991. School taxes pay for special education for these children, often costing $50,000 to $100,000 a year for each child. A dollar from every traffic ticket in New Jersey goes to research funding. 
The Record’s six-part series, "In Autism’s Grip," explained how a private family sorrow is quickly becoming a major public-education and public-policy concern. Over six days, The Record’s series told readers about:
The series told the story of 15-year-old Kate Lento, whose parents movingly described how they “lost her” as a toddler and then went on to found a school that has in many ways “given her back” to them. And Scott Robertson, who accurately diagnosed himself with Asperger’s Syndrome as a college student. It chronicled the education of Jodi DiPiazza as adults constantly pushed her to do the things she finds uncomfortable to help her avoid a descent into autism’s isolation and silence. The series also included the Bakter brothers, whose family’s participation in groundbreaking studies on siblings with autism may lower the age at which the disorder can be diagnosed.
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