Research Suggests Children Can Recover From Autism

[OhioChick]

Source: AP

Intense Behavioral Therapy Could Be Reason Why

4:47 pm EDT May 8, 2009

CHICAGO -- Leo Lytel was diagnosed with autism as a toddler. But by age 9 he had overcome the disorder.

His progress is part of a growing body of research that suggests at least 10 percent of children with autism can "recover" from it -- most of them after undergoing years of intensive behavioral therapy.

Skeptics question the phenomenon, but University of Connecticut psychology professor Deborah Fein is among those convinced it's real.

She presented research this week at an autism conference in Chicago that included 20 children who, according to rigorous analysis, got a correct diagnosis but years later were no longer considered autistic.

Among them was Leo, a boy in Washington, D.C., who once made no eye contact, who echoed words said to him and often spun around in circles -- all classic autism symptoms. Now he is an articulate, social third-grader. His mother, Jayne Lytel, says his teachers call Leo a leader.

The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, involves children ages 9 to 18.

Autism researcher Geraldine Dawson, chief science officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, called Fein's research a breakthrough.

Read more: http://www.newsnet5.com/health/19408647/detail.html

[xchrom]

1. ...

:popcorn:

[bemildred]

2. I'm tempted not to touch this with a pole, but ...

1.) It seems reasonable to me to think that intensive therapy of one sort or another could be very helpful.
2.) On the other hand, it also sounds very expensive.
3.) And it may be futile in 90% of cases according to this.
4.) And understanding causes and prevention also seems like an extremely worthwhile use for money, and with a better long term payoff, perhaps.
5.) So this is encouraging news, but I don't know that I'd run off and make any permanent decisions just yet.

[OhioChick]

5. I agree with all that you said.

I posted it as I was sending it to a friend who has 4 children....3 being autistic. She always asks me to send her any information that I come across, so I decided to post it here, as well.

[bemildred]

7. You did the right thing, and my heart goes out to her.

:hug:

[truedelphi]

9. I think your analysis is very wise.

And more than likely, the 10% that are "Cured" of their autism are in the upper income brackets.

So if you are well off and your child is autistic, your child has a better than 1 in ten shot at getting over it.

But if you are not so well off, it's probably safe to assume that your child does not have very good odds.

Autism therapy is extremely expensive.

[Demeter]

3. Compensation Is NOT Recovery

Yes, some people on the autistic scale can appear normal in most daily situations, but when stressed beyond their ability to cope, the syndrome shines through. My father, in declining health and at the age of 77, is the perfect example of this. He passed for normal (for most people, if not the family) most of his life, held down good jobs, raised four children (no matter that his idea of parenting deformed us), etc.

I'm sorry, there is as yet no magic bullet, no way of programming the afflicted to pass or succeed. We are only in the beginning stages.

[David in Canada]

31. Question

How did your father's parenting 'deform' you? Was whatever he did related to his (probable) Asperger's Syndrome? If so, was it directly or indirectly?

I'm not trying to be difficult. I just wish to glean some information. Please be forthright as I have no emotional stake in the answer as I have already resolved to not reproduce.

Thanks! :)

[Demeter]

39. Social Skills Especially Suffered

When you are growing up in a household that is isolate (especially in a big city) it is hard to know how to meet people, how to evaluate people, etc.

My father is a loner. He had few friends, let his family ties deteriorate, and now everybody is dead anyway.

I think it considerably impacted my ability to find a mate (which was a failure of catastrophic size).

[Birthmark]

4. Sounds like bullshit to me

"Psychology professor" explains that.

[robinlynne]

8. excuse me. Why are there " around psychology professor?

[Birthmark]

13. To denote it was a quote.

[robinlynne]

15. ok. Thought there was some denigration going on. Being the daughter of a psychology professor marrie

married to a psychology professor........

[Birthmark]

17. No problem with psychology professors at all

I'm a bit less charitable towards therapists, but that's a different subject.

[tpsbmam]

11. WTF does that mean? You have no clue what you're talking about. n/t

[Birthmark]

12. Of course not

I'm not a psychology professor trying to palm off a bullshit cure for autism. I'm just the parent of an autistic. What the hell would I know?

[tpsbmam]

16. Then as a parent I'd acquaint myself with the more reputable and productive

researchers in the field. Deb Fein is one of the best. Some of the advances that have been made in the understanding of autism have been made by Deb. I'm sorry if your child isn't among the 10-20%, but don't dismiss this possibility out of hand for the entire population of people with autism. As much as you've had to become an expert in your child's autism and I'm sure you've made lots of friends who have autistic children, you can't generalize from a tiny "N" to the entire population of children with autism.

[Birthmark]

18. This isn't the first bottle of snake oil I've seen.

I'm sure that Dr. Fein is a wonderful human being and very caring and dedicated. However, I've seen others with all the same attributes (and a few with lesser attributes) believe, or want me to believe, that a "cure" or a "recovery" or whatever is possible. It's all been snake oil. Some of it bottled with malice aforethought, some with the best of intentions and fervent belief.

I'll assume Dr. Fein has the best of intentions.

But write it down: It's still snake oil.

[tpsbmam]

24. I think I"ll pass on writing it down and since I know Deb Fein's qualifications

and you've provided nothing, I think I'll stick with the known entity.

[Birthmark]

29. You chose...poorly. :)

[KamaAina]

6. Oh bollocks.

I know people who claim to be "recovered" from autism. By this they mean that they function in society alongside neurotypicals (the rest of you).

You know what? So do I. And I've got more posts than most of you, so there.

All this does is divert more tons of $$$$$ into this intensive ABA stuff. Their boiler-room sales pitch: "You have to start this RIGHT NOW, or you will lose your child FOREVER!!!" Enough parents buy into it that many takle out second mortgages on their homes to pay for it (the cost for private ABA can easily run into six figures, and surprise, insurance doesn't cover it). :eyes:

[Birthmark]

14. Did they "recover" through facilitated communication? eom

[KamaAina]

21. No, that's someone else.

:-)

I know a woman who claims to be "recovered", and another who used FC, but they're two (vastly) different people.

Note that Friend #2 used FC (past tense). For years now she has used plain old augmented communication (AAC) without facilitation. Wheneve I run across someone who thinks the facilitator is typing for the person using FC, I think of her. Her IQ was once thought to be 10. Now, with the aid of FC and AAC, she is a graduate of the prestigious University of Denver (known as DU!) and sits on a state disabilities board in CO. She even met President Clinton, which is more than I can say! Friend #2 would certainly not claim to be "recovered".

Now I'm thinking about training service animals to do the facilitation, just to hear the skeptics say, "But how do we know the dog isn't typing for her?" :-)

[Odin2005]

34. Exactly. I can function fine in society, that doesn't mean I'm not autistic.

Anyone saying that they can "cure" autism is a liar, and a eugenicist bastard as well.

[tpsbmam]

10. I know Deb Fein..........

I studied under her in grad school and one of my best friends in grad school was a member of her team. Deb Fein is one of the preeminent neuropsychologists specializing in autism, which she's been at the forefront of researching for 30 years now. She's an outstanding researcher and one of the top neuropsychologists in the country.

If those who are quick to call bullshit would read a little more, they'd learn that the kids who were cured tended to have above average IQ's, had relatively mild autism, and many had normal motor development at age 2. Deb feels that between 10 & 20% of kids with autism can be cured. Previous studies have indicated that between 3 & 25% of kids with autism can be cured, again with pretty intense work on the part of parents.

The behavior therapy was, indeed, intensive -- up to like 40 hours a week.

They're trying to analyze data from brain scans now to ascertain if there are structural/functional changes that correlate with the behavioral findings. I look forward to reading those results!

None of the kids have relapsed, though other problems were present (e.g., ADHD).

[KamaAina]

22. I'm quibbling over the definition of "cured", "relapsed", etc.

rather than claiming that the intervention didn't show any results.

I worked in the field myself, years ago, and the head doctor told me that autism was "a behaviorally defined syndrome with multiple etiologies". In English, that means it's a set of related behaviors, not a disease like diabetes or cancer, and there's no one cause of it. In that context, it;'s difficult to attach meaning to words like "cured" and "relapse".

[tpsbmam]

26. I totally agree. Autism is pretty far afield from my specialty but my understanding

of autism. If, however, there are constellations of causes that mean a child can become autistic via causes "a" through "d" and all autism results from set combinations of those causes, it may just be that some causes and/or combinations are more treatable than others. One can be "cured" in that the behavioral manifestations that were present previously and which caused the kid to be diagnosed as autistic are no longer present. Well, that's tough to claim when it comes to behavior -- are no longer present to the degree that they impair the individual and he/she no longer meets the autism diagnostic criteria.

[KamaAina]

27. There is also a category called PDD-NOS

"Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified". Basically it means, "We think this person is on the autism spectrum, but we can't check off enough of the boxes to arrive at a diagnosis of autism or Asperger's".

I wonder if some of these "cured" children meet the less stringent criteria for PDD-NOS.

[woo me with science]

37. Very important point. nt

[mitchum]

19. They can manage their autism, not recover from it

[Jester Messiah]

20. As an aspie, I don't care for the tone of this article.

Hey Dawson: how 'bout we cure the way YOU think, jerk.

[KamaAina]

23. Welcome aboard, brother Jester!

:hi:

[Odin2005]

36. This Aspie says A-FUCKING-MEN!!!

The Eugenicists can take their snake-oil "cures" and shove them up their rear ends!

[hunter]

25. I wish little Leo the best of luck.

I was in my mid twenties when I realized most people weren't living their lives by a giant book of social rules they'd carefully memorized and practiced -- that most people simply did social things naturally, without thinking much. Meanwhile I was looking at every social interaction like it was a giant chess game and I spent a huge amount of energy trying to predict the consequences of every social action I initiated, and I'd still screw up even the most ordinary interactions.

My family was very hands-on with me as a little kid, and even though I was a bit odd I did pretty well in grade school. But I got clobbered in middle school and high school. I hated high school so much I skipped my senior year. College was better, mostly because the bullies were gone, but it still took me nine years to get a four year degree. I could get fine grades, but I was asked to take time off from school twice when my behavior drifted a little to far away from the mean. I wasn't any sort of brilliance that people would put up with my eccentricities.

Life's still an adventure, but the crazy meds are a lot better now, and I've got a nice diagnosis that explains a whole lot of crap I suffered through. Life didn't turn out nearly so well for many of the nuts in my family tree.

[David in Canada]

30. Wow!

Except for the last paragraph and the fact I never entered tertiary education, your post was spot on.

It was only when I came across Asperger's Syndrome a few years ago that everything fit together. I was rather unsuccessful with making friends. If friends are defined by people who one spends time with outside their school or workplace, I have had a grand total of two.

I still can't read anything but the most rudimentary body language. I also cannot see emotions in eyes but I CAN read facial expressions due to the muscular changes that occur on the face. I am still maladroit when it comes to discerning a genuine smile from a contrived smile, for instance.

I myself did well in primary (elementary) school. My years in secondary (high school) were far less fruitful and I ended up barely graduating by the skin of my teeth. Many teachers thought I was 'very intelligent, but lazy' as one described me.

To this day, I prefer to go grocery shopping for only a few items as a time because a lengthy stay is psychologically overwhelming for me. I also don't like being touched much. I tolerate hugs as long as they are brief and the squeezing is not tight.

[MannyGoldstein]

28. Deborah Fein is An Excellent Scientist

One of the very, very few in this field who actually uses real science.

[Feron]

32. This likely isn't new information.

IIRC, Tony Attwood has written about how Aspies normally improve functioning over time with or without intervention.

And that is certainly true in my case. I used to be very withdrawn, but over the years came out of my shell and became more sociable. My autism hasn't gone away, however I've learned how to better function with it.

I'm not against therapies, but only if they work with the autistic child. ABA is somewhat controversial in autistic circles.

I just wish that the word 'recover' wasn't used. Now fucktards like Jenny McCarthy are going to jump all over it to push their quack "treatments".

[KTinaY2008]

35. I would like to share my personal experience with autism

My youngest son was born in 2001. By the time he was 4 months old his head size went from 25% at birth to well past the 100% mark. His pediatrician immediately sent him to a neurologist because he was convince he had hydrocephalus. So my son had a CAT scan and it showed that he had external (or benign) hydrocephalus. They said that in 50% of the cases it goes away and in the other cases it will require a 1 time surgery. The neurologist said be on alert for his developmental. Well, my son was delayed in almost every aspect of development. When my son was 23 months old we went and had a full evaluation including IQ and development testing. It showed he was profoundly delayed in every area. (Including IQ and having the verbal ability of a 3 month old.) They told me that they were certain he was Autistic and although they wouldn't "officially" diagnose him with that until he was 3 there was no doubt in their mind that is what he had. Within a week he was started on speech therapy and occupational therapy. A year later, almost to the day, we go back for repeat testing for preschool placement. He was almost normal in every aspect, and with a normal IQ. It was amazing how fast he came in that year alone. He started therapy young and that is the key. Today he is in 100% regular eduction. He does have some social problem and sensory problems but he is highly intelligent and will be able to lead a normal life. It is amazing because when he was first evaluated they told us that he would probably never be verbal other than a few noises, and echolalia. His testing he just had in April shows his vocabulary is above his age level. So the early intervention was the key for him.

[Odin2005]

33. A High-Functioning Autistic's opnion: This is complete utter BS!!!

The credibility of this stinks to high heaven, especially when those Eugenicist bastards at Autism Speaks are involved.

[trudyco]

38. Could be they had Sensory Processing disorder as opposed to autism?

I think any research that looks at improving functioning is good. A moderate to severe autistic is quite different from aspergers, though.

[cpompilo]

40. Many austic kids do very well on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet

see www.BreakingTheViciousCycle.info

or, this website for kids on the SCD www.PecanBread.com Many testimonials as to the success of this diet for children with autism at this site.

[Odin2005]

41. Snake oil.

[trotsky]

42. That poster is spamming many threads with the same ad.

Must have a financial stake in that snake oil.