Considering the Financial Benefits of DD Services in the Community

Yesterday as I was looking for statistics for crafting my testimony to the state officials, I came across this curious fact sheet for my county put out by the Oregon Developmental Disabilities Coalition. The fact sheet itself is pretty straight forward, like how many people in the county are getting what types of county services (ah yes, I am a data point there, and also there, and...). But here's the curious part that caught my eye in the left margin:

Services to people with developmental disabilities contribute more than $68 million dollars per year to the local economy through jobs, wages, and the purchase of services and supplies in Multnomah County.

More typically, the scare figures on cost of services are something like "autism costs the tax payer blah blah!" or "the price of supporting a single autistic person for the rest of their lives is blah!" or other such statements to justify why working to eradicate me would be in the "best interests" of the American People.

But one of the many things that doesn't get considered with those scare statistics is that money for services doesn't just fall into some void and vanish. It goes to the people who are providing those services. It gives employment to people in the community. It puts money into the local economy. Which in turn can have broader reach, as economies are highly connected.

I'm sure it will come out sooner or later--and likely repeatedly *grin*--my primary Interest outside of autism is Systems Science, a field of study which is essentially about understanding how wholes and parts relate to each other in highly complex systems like economies, ecologies, and social groups. Systems science perspectives and methods always urge people to consider the ecology, or "big picture" rather than fixate on a specific detail in isolation. Retail shopping also "costs" people a lot of money every year, but there is an awareness that retail shopping also provides "benefits" in the form of jobs and economic fluidity. Retail shopping is just one piece of a broader ecology--one aspect of the larger economic system.

When discussing "cutting services" or "eliminating the need for services" it's important to remember that such cuts don't just affect the people who get the services, but the people who give the services as well. Taking a broader, more ecological perspective may lead to new budget or delivery strategies for making sure everyone can benefit, and no one needs to be eradicated.