Judy, your question of what will happen to these children as they mature is ridiculous, especially since you basically answered it yourself. There are varying degrees of autism. Those who are low-functioning will likely live with family members for the rest of their lives, or receive round-the-clock care through other resources. However, those are who high-functioning can and will have all the opportunities in life as you or I. People with autism spectrum disorders are not mentally ret@rded, so please don’t lump them together with people with Downs Syndrome. They are two completely different disorders and challenges. Having a child with Asperger’s Syndrome, which is an autistic spectrum disorder, who is high-functioning, I expect that she will continue to get good grades, perhaps go to college, get married one day, and hopefully have children. Maybe she will have a professional career. Who knows? But she will either fail or succeed just like any other child in this world who doesn’t have autism. But if she happened to be born in this world where she needed mine or another family member’s constant care for the rest of her life, then I would thank God for trusting me to care for one of His very special ones. Having a special needs child dependent upon you till the day you die is not a burden. They are your child, your flesh and blood. Not someone to be ashamed of. You should volunteer at these special events because it might broaden your understanding of all the autistic spectrum disorders all walks of life deal with.