Treatment/ Cure
There has been a lot of talk about a treatment for autism. This kind of talk comes mainly from people who think that autism is a disorder that needs a cure. The most popular treatment was designed by O. Ivar Lovaas who was a professor of Psychology at UCLA. He worked with children with autism using Applied Behaviour Analysis or ABA. ABA is a term which refers to applying, for therapeutic purposes, information gained from the careful examination (analysis) of what a person says or does (behaviour) in a given situation or set of circumstances. Learning Theory has demonstrated that how a person behaves is largely determined by various factors involved in the situation in which he or she is, and the results of his or her behaviour on previous occasions. By knowing and understanding what these factors and results are, strategies can be put in place to change them, and thus change the person’s behaviour. It cannot be said that ABA therapy “cures” autism, the term some use is “recovery”. The evidence is that some children (40-50%) can make a full recovery from the symptoms of autism, while all others will make gains that could not be otherwise expected – they will make a partial recovery.
(http://www.isadd.org/faq.shtml)
Although ABA is said to cure autism 40-50%, there are many drawbacks to this kind of therapy. First, there is no way to “cure” autism, it is a neurological difference in the people who have it and there is no way to change the chemistry of their brain. There might be minor improvement in social skills, but you will never be able to change the person. Second, Lovaas’s reports are from 4 studies that were not randomly assigned.
Yet, aside from the statistical evidence against ABA treatment, it is necessary to consider the harmful risks that your child would be potentially experiencing. Children must sit 40 hours a week working with a trained “professional” who will force them to act “normally.” They will make your child look at them for days until the child gets it right. The reward is food and if they scream or throw a tantrum, their aversion is disregarded. There is no attention to what the child wants, only to the focus of being normal. The risks of your child developing post traumatic stress disorder or an anxiety disorder are very likely and much worse than autism. Also your child could lose trust in adults if forced by one to do something that they do not like.
If treatment is desired, it is important to know that ABA is not the only treatment available. Dr. Gernsbacher has introduced the idea of reciprocity training between a person with autism and their parents or friends. She defines reciprocity as, “a relation of mutual dependence or action or influence,” or “a mode of exchange in which transactions take place between individuals who are symmetrically placed.” She stresses the importance of an equal exchange between the autistic individual and the non-autistic individual. Research reviewed in this study illustrates that when professionals, peers, and parents are taught to act reciprocally, autistic children become more responsive.
(http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:oPH7oExDPZ0J:psych.wisc.edu/lang/pdf/Gernsbacher_reciprocity.pdf+reciprocity+autism&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&gl=us)
It is important to remember that there is no cure for autism, yet if you listen to most autistic individuals, they will tell you that they do not want to be changed or cured. Many of them enjoy the way they are and feel that autism is a part of them deep inside their core. The only reason to change some aspect of a person is if they are harmful to others or themselves. Most of the time, autism does not affect others, but in the case that it does, training or counseling is always helpful as long as the goal is not to change the whole person. Changing problematic behaviors is helpful to the person and will allow them to function better in society. As long as the desired change is to help the person, it is not harmful.
