Living with autism in Washington and Kuwait

By Lucy Chumbley and Aisha Algaiar
Kuwait City and Washington, D.C., are two of the wealthiest places on earth.
Kuwait’s per capita GDP is the fifth highest in the world, and the country is classified as a high income economy by the World Bank. The United States ranks No. 10, with 11 counties around Washington listed this year as the richest in America by Forbes.com.
Both places are magnets for families seeking financial opportunity and a better standard of living. But two families have found money cannot buy the one thing parents hold most dear.
Their children’s health.
The McConnell family in Montgomery County, Md., and the Al-Saleh family in Kuwait City each have children with autism: Kayleigh, 19, and Abdullah, 22.
Both families have struggled to find a diagnosis, educate themselves, serve as advocates for their children and raise social awareness about autism. Now, with their children on the cusp of adulthood, both families worry: What’s next?