The Kids Who Beat Autism: New York Times
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Anonymous
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BTW, IQ is an important predictor for all kids with developmental disabilities and learning disabilities. The higher the IQ, the more likely you are to have a positive outcome. That is true for language delays, dyslexia, ADHD, etc. IQ makes a huge difference.
There really isn't good data for kids with ASD who have IQ scores over 100. Most studies look at outcomes for kids with IQs "above 85" (ie in the "dull normal" range and above) and below 85. |
Anonymous
Probably because it is near impossible to do an IQ test on the kids. We did testing and the ped gave up and said average on the report but his belief was much higher. I don't get the comment beyond it is common sense - anyone with a higher IQ regardless will probably have greater success. |
Anonymous
Why be nasty and comment about speech delays if that is not your issue? That makes no sense. Those tests are very subjective. |
Anonymous
The kids in the article who were no longer autistic were not of the "barely met criteria" variety. Their symptoms were severe. |
Anonymous
B/c she pops up about ADOS not working for speech delayed kids. every. single. time. ADOS is mentioned. |
Anonymous
And they got their diagnosis at 3 yrs old and under which generally means that they were in the moderate/severe end of the spectrum. It's great news! I don't understand all the controversy at all. So some kids lose their ASD diagnosis, good for them! |
Anonymous
Ah, crazy MERLD lady here. And it's an important fact to know since you constantly hold it up as the "gold standard" but fail to mention its limitations. I agree that there is a line, and some people will fall on once side or the other, depending on who is doing the evaluating, as it's quite subjective. But the kids in this story were severely autistic, so it's another ballgame altogether, and a great first step. |
Anonymous
Glad to see you again! BTW, ADOS (with ADI-R) is the "gold standard" for diagnosing ASD. I'm not the one who invented the term. |
Anonymous
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And for those who say 'it's wiring of the brain and can't be changes' - here is scientific proof that ESDM (naturalistic ABA intervention for young toddlers) is associated with changes in brain function and normalized patterns of brain activity.
http://www.autismspeaks.org/about-us/press-releases/early-intervention-improves-social-skills-brain-activity-autism http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23101741 Also, there's been a lot of promising research done in the past decade, new, improved types of interventions, as well as increased awareness of the importance of early evaluation and Dx. I think kids diagnosed today have a better chance of good outcomes than kids from the previous generation. |
Anonymous
A good portion of the kids who lost their diagnosis had NO behavioral therapy, though. |
Anonymous
I know. For some reason, just like NT kids, some ASD kids develop coping skills much better than others; but losing the diagnosis without therapy happens very rarely, doesn't it? Most kids with optimal outcome have intensive early intervention. |
Anonymous
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Actually, in Lord's study, most kids didn't have the intensive therapy.
Only two of the eight no-longer-autistic children in Lord’s study received intensive behavioral therapy, because at the time it wasn’t commonly available where the research was conducted, in Illinois and North Carolina. |
Anonymous
But how do they define intensive? My son does not have an ASD diagnosis but it has been suspected and at his developmental peds suggestion we started ABA. We did what we could manage, which was about 3-5 hours per week from age 12 months through 22 months, at which point we lost coverage for services. However, during that time he made so much incredible progress from the therapy that we knew we'd be ok without the ABA (though I still think he would have benefited from more ABA as it did wonders for him and we still use the techniques). So, my point is some kids respond so rapidly to lower levels of therapy, and that might not be captured in the study depending on how they define intensive. |
Anonymous
Read what you wrote. She says it does not work for speech delayed kids. I agree with her. It gave us very inaccurate information an gave us an unneeded diagnosis and services forced on us (we quit but it was insisted we try them) that were unnecessary. Speech delayed kids are sometimes diagnosed as it is hard to get an accurate picture so it is easier to diagnose them with autism and move one (happened to us). Granted, many of the services are the same so does it matter? Yes, as people view your child very differently when you say speech delay vs. autism. We have noticed it. If we say autism, most people shy away. If we say speech delay, its no big deal. |
Anonymous
Its also a cost issue. ABA is very expensive so its no surprise very few kids are getting it. |