Recovery: The Word That Shall Not Be Spoken
In the great movie, The Village, there were monsters in the woods that went by the name of "Those We Do Not Speak Of" or something like that. That's similar to the way we speak of recovery for children with autism. Can a child with autism recover? Yes. According to Ivar Lovaas' well-controlled and now replicated studies, about 47% of kids who receive Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) at the maximum level (40 Hours per week) will need no special education services by school age. We have all heard about such kids. I have been fortunate enough to know of at least two of these kids. But we do not talk about them too much because . . . other parents will expect that their child too will recover. We dare not speak of it too much because we do not want to offer false hope. What if their child is in the 53% group? The fact is, ABA, especially if accompanied by all the other common interventions for autism (GFCF Diet, D.A.N. Protocol, speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, etc.), can help children recover from autism to the point that they no longer are distinguishable from their average peers. Even if the child does not recover, they make tremendous gains in IQ, basic and advanced skills, and in behavior control.
Now all this is said with the understanding that some kids with autism are at severe levels and may not fully recover even with all the best ABA training and all the other interventions in the world. That's another reason we do not speak of recovery too often. We do not want to "rub it in their noses" that some kids will recover but not their kid. That kind of hurt can't be discounted. However, we cannot ignore something that helps so many kids just because it does not help all kids. Jesus healed a lot of people, but He did not heal all people. Why? We will only know that answer when we see Him.
So I want to share the web site of an anonymous Mom who wrote about her struggle to help her child recover from autism. It is an amazing story but just make sure you come back here when you are done reading (we don't want to lose you!):
To see a list of kids who have recovered from autism (and the treatments they received) see this link:
Recovered Children Rollcall from Yahoo Groups
Autism.tv - Recovery and other videos from D.A.N. Conferences. Sponsored by the Autism Research Institute and the Center for the Study of Autism.
DISCLAIMER: This site is intended to provide basic information resources on Autistic Disorder. It is not intended to, nor does it, constitute medical or other advice. The author of the web site is not a medical doctor. Readers are warned not to take any action with regard to medical treatment or otherwise based on the information on this web site or links without first consulting a physician. This web site does not necessarily endorse any of the information obtained from any of the links on this page or links that other pages may lead you to. Neither does this web site promote or recommend any treatment, therapy, institution or health care plan. The information contained in this site is intended to be for your general education and information only and not for use in pursuing any treatment or course of action. Ultimately, the course of action in treating a given patient must be individualized after a thorough discussion with the patient's physician(s) and family.