<p><a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/health/19autism.html?_r=1&hpw[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/19/health/19autism.html?_r=1&hpw</a></p>
<p>Shrinkrap, I read that and am confused about the % who “grew out of it”. . Do you think this is reliable given the research methods? </p>
<p>From article:
The finding is based on an analysis of medical and school records of some 400,000 children around the country; the researchers did not meet or interview the children</p>
<p>From article:
The new estimate is about the same as one from a study published in October, which found a rate of slightly more than 1 in 100 children who received a diagnosis. Yet that study, based on a phone survey of 78,000 households, also found that almost 40 percent of the children who had received an autism spectrum diagnosis grew out of it or no longer had the diagnosis.</p>
<p>I know a family whose child ‘grew out of it’, and I believe fully in the original diagnosis of the child. But early and intense intervention was possibly part of what helped the child. She is one of a set of fraternal triplets. Two of the girls showed signs early of autism, one did not. Both of the affected children received very special therapy - one ‘grew out of it’ and the other did not. The mother also says that the one that grew out of it was presenting with more severe traits initially that the one that did not. </p>
<p>They 14 years old now. The autistic daughter barely speaks, but reads a 2nd grade level. She receives a great deal of care from occupational therapists to special schooling, etc. The other child still shows some signs of autism and is struggling in 9th grade…but the mother admits that it could simply be adjustment to 9th grade and not the mild autism that is affecting her. The third daughter is managing well in high school.</p>
<p>Such a perplexing disorder - so hard to know whether it’s on the rise or whether increased levels of observation have affected statistics related to the syndrome.</p>
<p>Interesting Triplet report-
Could you elaborate about the “very special therapy” the triplets received, two recovering and one did not?</p>
<p>It is a terrifying “disorder”-</p>
<p>“Do you think this is reliable”</p>
<p>My first thought is, just as reliable as the diagnosis</p>
<p>The mother refers to it as an applied behavioral analysis approach. </p>
<p>I would like to clarify that only two of the three girls exhibited the traits, the third was described as developmentally normal.</p>
<p>“applied behavioral analysis” SHOULD be considered the standard of care.</p>
<p>I don’t understand the example, pumpkin. The two daughters were initially diagnosed with autism. Now, at age 14, one is obviously seriously autistic, and the other one is mildly autistic. They’re both still autistic. Happily, the less affected girl responded to treatment, but apparently neither girl has grown out of her autism.</p>
<p>On the less serious end of the autism spectrum, we find plenty of kids who “grow into” an autism diagnosis, as it were: kids who get one diagnosis after another before finally being diagnosed as autistic. I know three boys this happened to, my son and two of his friends. All of them were finally diagnosed with Aspergers in their mid-teens, after several other less accurate, less helpful diagnoses. In none of these cases was this doctor-shopping on the parents’ part. I know all three boys, and Aspergers is the best description for all of them.</p>
<p>* the less serious end of the autism spectrum, we find plenty of kids who “grow into” an autism diagnosis, as it were: kids who get one diagnosis after another before finally being diagnosed as autistic. I know three boys this happened to, my son and two of his friends. All of them were finally diagnosed with Aspergers in their mid-teens, after several other less accurate, less helpful diagnoses. In none of these cases was this doctor-shopping on the parents’ part. I know all three boys, and Aspergers is the best description for all of them.*</p>
<p>I imagine there is far more of this.</p>
<p>If you had a broken leg- that was permanently broken- with time you would be come much more adept at making do- still was broken, but you worked around it.
A Neurological difference does not disappear, but you can learn skills to mitigate the affects of it with varying degrees of success.</p>
<p>No longer having the diagnosis is oftentimes, to the childs benefit.
FOr example, my daughter was diagnosed with specific learning disabiltiy and was in SPED from 3rd through 8th grade.</p>
<p>However, because her daily pullout consisted of working on her homework, while watching the teacher attempt to discipline the other kids, I had her removed from her IEP ( and attempted to get her a 504, which was more difficult to do than I expected)</p>
<p>FOr all extents and purposes, she no longer had an IEP and so did not have the diagnosis of specific learning disability, but she still had to have regular tutoring and adjustments, although because she didn’t have to spend time in SPED, she had time to take AP classes.</p>
<p>But as her university only offers LD support for those with a diagnosis, we are now getting updated information so that support will be available.</p>