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Risks of giving autistic adults financial freedom

Richard J. Dalton Jr. | Consumer Watch

March 2, 2008

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Sean Beaudoin, 25, has an autism spectrum disorder, but with help he has become fairly independent.

He has his own car. He works 20 hours a week as a kennel assistant. He has a credit card in his name, though his mother keeps it. And he has a good credit rating.

But his parents, Curtis and Paula Beaudoin, recently experienced the downside of such autonomy for their son, who lives with them in Nesconset.

Last month, Sean walked into Hustedt Chevrolet in Centereach and traded in his fully paid 1997 Ford Explorer for a $2,500 credit toward a 2002 Chevy Malibu with 50,000 miles. He owed an additional $11,400 on the Malibu.

After Beaudoin's mother discovered the purchase and complained to the dealership, the manager agreed to lower the total price to $8,550. That's more than the car's $6,940 retail value in excellent condition, according to Kelley Blue Book.

Paula Beaudoin said she agreed to the purchase because the dealership refused to reverse the deal. Hustedt Chevrolet has an unsatisfactory record with the Better Business Bureau of Metropolitan New York for failure to respond to complaints.

Edward Reyer, general manager of Hustedt, said Beaudoin seemed more intent on getting the price lowered than on reversing the deal. And he said the price had nothing to do with Sean's condition.

"Anybody can be overcharged," Reyer said. "Forget about autism. If you come in here and you like a car and you're given a price - no matter how much it's marked up - and you accept a price, you're accepting the price, no matter who you are."

Sean Beaudoin had "everything we need," Reyer said - a driver's license, good credit, a job and car insurance. "He's as normal as normal can be as far as having the proper stuff."

The young man's parents said his condition, called "pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified," makes him unable to understand how to engage in a complex financial transaction, such as a car purchase, and leads him to naively trust others. Such traits can make him susceptible to sales pitches as well as to people intent on taking advantage of him. For instance, Sean Beaudoin told a reporter he didn't need to research the value of the car because the salespeople have a list of prices to show buyers.

Widespread problem

Sean's financial difficulties are common among young adults with autism spectrum disorders, said Pat Schissel, who runs the Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism Association, based in Bethpage. "They want to do what they think a 25-year-old should be doing," she said. "They will go to buy a car or think that they can rent an apartment but have no idea about all the pieces that go into it."

Thousands of children with autism spectrum disorders have reached adulthood, raising difficult issues as the children become consumers in a world they don't fully understand.

People with autism typically have a wide range of abilities, but Sean's independence is beyond the reach of many.

And for those like Sean, who are highly functioning, adulthood has the potential for newfound financial freedom. That, in turn, can lead them into contracts.

If autistic adults don't understand the nature of such commerce, their parents face the prospect of seeking legal guardianship, taking away the very independence they've dreamed of for their son or daughter.

A guardian has the legal right to make medical or financial decisions - depending on the type of guardianship - on behalf of the person under his or her care. Just as a minor cannot sign a contract, neither can a person, even an adult, whose financial affairs are handled by a guardian.

"A lot of times that can be a really difficult decision for parents," said Wendy Fournier, president of the National Autism Association, in Nixa, Mo.

More and more parents are facing that decision. An estimated 85 percent of the autistic population is younger than 18, and those diagnosed in the beginning of the wave of autism during the 1990s are now reaching adulthood. The number of cases of autistic children and students served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act nearly doubled from 42,417 in 1997 to 79,586 in 2000, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

"I think we're on the precipice here," said Scott Bono, a Durham, N.C., resident and co-founder and chairman-elect of the National Autism Association. "At the first autism conference I went to in the early '90s, there was no discussion of guardianship. At the last one I went to in November, I had a number of people talking about this very issue."