Autism Recovery

Autism recovery is a controversial subject that divides the autism community. Individuals with autism can experience an improvement in symptoms with early intervention and appropriate treatment. However, many autism experts are hesitant to use the term recovery. Is autism recovery possible?

The controversy over autism recovery stems from the fact that there is currently no cure for any autism spectrum disorder. Can a person with autism recover if he is not cured? It depends upon who you ask.

Autism experts agree that there are effective autism treatments available that can help a person manage autism symptoms. A person with autism can reach a point where he does not need the same level of care and treatment in order to function in daily life or prevent symptoms. Some autism experts would consider him in recovery from autism. Other autism experts would consider him a participant in a successful autism treatment program that managed symptoms.

In a Washington Post article, leading autism expert Fred R. Volkmar, the director of the Child Study Center at the Yale School of Medicine, discusses a reason why many doctors are hesitant to term an autistic person's progress as recovery.

Recovery implies that no autism symptoms are present and the condition has been cured. Volkmar says, "Sometimes parents want me to say their child is normal," after experiencing major improvements. He continues, "If by that you mean no detectable social troubles or oddities, that is uncommon...It happens, but usually there are some problems that persist, even if they are minor."

Yet, the issue of recovery versus cure is not a simple matter of semantics. Autism researcher and child psychologist, Nestor Lopez-Duran, discusses the complexity of the debate in his blog. "One of the problems with the word cure is that it implies the absence of the underlying mechanism that led to, maintained , or represents the condition. The issue with autism...is that we cannot be certain that the underlying mechanisms are absent. A person that meets recovered criteria…may be showing normative functioning through the use of learned compensatory mechanisms but the underlying mechanisms may still exist." This viewpoint may explain why many autism experts view an autistic person's progress as a successfully managed condition instead of condition recovery.

A number of autism experts argue that autism recovery is possible. These experts consider a person in autism recovery when they meet the following criteria:

• Previous diagnosis of autism
• No longer meets the DSM IV-TR criteria for autism or any other pervasive developmental disorder
• Tests 78 or higher on the Vineland communication and socialization scales
• Demonstrates developmental skills, social skills and learning ability of peers of the same age
• IQ of 80 or higher
• No longer requires special education services
• Able to participate in a classroom without individual assistance or special education

A large segment of the autism community comprised of experts, parents, caregivers and autistic individuals supports a growing autism recovery movement. Proponents of the movement argue that autistic individuals can recover from autism and many already have.

Autism support organizations that support the movement include:

• The Autism Research Institute and DAN: The Autism Research Institute founded the Defeat Autism Now program (DAN), which many people credit for cases of autism recovery. This specialized program involves the use of treatments such as biomedicine, DMPS chelation and the gluten-free, casein-free diet. The DAN program includes many doctors, therapists and teachers from all over the USA.
• Generation Rescue: Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carey's autism support organization recommends DAN treatments and is an advocate for autism recovery.
• Autism Speaks: Autism Speaks provides helpful resources for autism treatment from both the traditional and recovery perspectives.
• Talk About Curing Autism: TACA has information on traditional autism treatments and biomedical therapies.

In a recent CNN website story, Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carey discussed why they consider their son, Evan, in autism recovery. They argued that the word recover should not be confused with cure. McCarthy and Carey state, "While you may not be able to cure an injury caused in a terrible car accident, you can recover; you can regain many skills that you once lost. In the case of autism, we think there are treatments that often bring about such healing…Even though we may no longer see any symptoms of autism, we can’t say a child is cured because we do not know what they would have been like had they never been injured."

An ongoing National Institute of Mental Health study conducted by University of Connecticut professor Deborah Fein suggests that 10 to 20% of children with autism can recover after participating in years of intensive behavioral therapy. Fein presented her research results at the May 7, 2009 International Meeting for Autism Research in Chicago, IL.

Fein's study included 20 children between the ages of 9 to 18, who were diagnosed with autism before age five and now no longer meet the diagnostic criteria for autism. The children underwent years of behavioral therapy, including applied behavioral analysis, for as much as 30 to 40 hours per week.

One of Fein's study participants, nine-year-old Leo Lytel, is now described by his teachers as "a leader." Leo's mother, Jayne Lytel, wrote an article in The Washington Post describing his recovery. She describes recovery as being able "to have a conversation with Leo, especially about love and friendship and see him play a team sport."

Despite the debate over autism recovery, one fact remains true. People with autism are responding to current treatment options. Each person's level of improvement may vary but progress is possible. The autism community is also in agreement that more research is necessary to search for better treatments and possible future cures. Hope remains.

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• What Is Your Autism Empathy Rating?

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