Abstract
Despite estimates that one percent of children, worldwide, have a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder, with prevalence rates as high as three percent of children in the US., coupled with increasing numbers of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren, either as custodial or non-custodial caregivers, limited information is available regarding the essential, community-based, autism spectrum-related services that these grandfamilies need. What we do know is that grandfamilies with children with Autism Spectrum Disorder in different nations, and among different states in the U.S., face significant disparities in the availability of community-based services, influenced in large part by public policies and stigma. This editorial reviews the available information regarding such disparities, and calls for international health surveillance in data collection and advocacy in service of changes in public policy designed to assist these grandfamilies, who serve as an essential societal safety set for many children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.