Can Children with Autism Recover? Article review and blog neglect
Mood:  not sure
Topic: Autism Info

Hello all,

 

I know I have seriously neglected this blog, but  I haven't been neglecting children with autism. I am still working as an independent behavior therapist and taking courses/practicum in Floortime. I am still reading the newest articles and keeping up with the field. I am still consulting in autism, inclusion, behavior, ABA. I have been reading the ABA literature and the Floortime literature. Even though they may seem incompatible, I believe they are not. I am doing Floortime with a 15 year old under supervision and am excited by its possibilities. I've been reading Stanley Greenspan's and Serena Weider's "Engaging Autism", the neuroscience behind DIR/Floortime, and trying to comapre the two fields of research. More on that later.

 

I mentioned in my last post that I  was going to post about an article I found called, "Can Children with Autism Recover? If So, How?" It's in the December 2008 Neuropsychology Review and the authors review published articles about so-called recoveries. The bulk of their review is based on behavioral articles, and the authors begin by establishing a definition of "recovery". They conclude that betwen 3% and 25% of children on the spectrum "recover", mostly by intensive behavioral intervention. (Note: They do not review the Greenspan research). The favorable predictors for recovery are relatively high intelligence, receptive language, verbal and motor imitation,  motor development, but not overall symptom severity. Earlier age of diagnosis and treatment and a diagnosis of PDD-NOS are also favorable. Seizure, mental retardation, and genetic syndromes are not favorable to recovery. Head growth does not predict outcome. 

 

Even in recovery, however, there are residual traits, such as those affecting higher-order communication and attention.  There are also situations in which tics, depression and phobias exist after recovery.

 

 They hypothesize that the mechanisms of recovery include: normalizing input by forcing attention outward or enriching the environment, promoting the reinforcing value of social stimuli, preventing interfering behaviors, mass trials of weak skills, reducing stress and stablizing arousal. Improving nutrition and sleep quality are not specifically benefiecial to recovery.

 

Their conlusions coincide with my beliefs after reading much of the research and my years of experiences. It doesn't mean that other children can't improve dramatically; certainly they can. But this article goes a long way toward explaining the mechanics of the so-called "recovery" movement.

 

There still is a lot of hope out there!