Worth mentioning you can run ABA on a smaller scale though. I rejected ABA initially as there was no way we could afford the 20-30 thousand a year it costs to run a programme. What I didn't realise is that it could be run part time. We now have a (very very good- very experienced- we're very lucky) tutor who comes on Saturdays. We started that because ds1 was in mainstream school and basically being babysat with no intervention.
Now he is special school and receiving appropriate education he is just changing and blossoming. We still do ABA, but I think when our tutor leaves us we probably won't replace her as he's getting so much input during the week.
As Socci says you are on your own with an autitic child. I suspected autism at 17 months. At 3 and a bit we started to get one hour a week of portage. The NHS has provided about 8 sessions of speech therapy. Now he's in special school he gets a lot of therappy and intervention- but he was almost 6 before he got there- if he'd had this much input 3 years ago.....
We've paid for private SALT, 2 PECS courses. BIBIC, part time ABA, private specialist appointments to try and get a diagnosis. And we never had the money to do anything properly as such.
It's a bloody joke- which I why I always say be careful about saying too much unless the parents are very tuned into the type of problem that may be going on. Otherwise you push them into a situation where there'll be no support and no help, and just a horrible gnawing anxiey with no answers, just waiting lists and "oh wait until she's 3". It's criminal and unecessary. These children should be flagged at 18 months.