Can Children Recover from Autism?

Autism is a disease that affects many Americans but little is known about it. Today there is more and more research being done to find ways to cope with the illness and to bring more awareness into American homes. The most recent research has shown that approximately 10 percent of children that suffer from the autism could actually recover.

One of the people who proved this is possible is Leo Lytel. He was diagnosed with autism as a small child, but by the age of 9 he had overcome the disorder. Lytel’s progress is part of a growing study that suggests at least 10 percent of children with autism can “recover” from it; however, most of the recoveries occur after years of undergoing intensive behavioral therapy.

Many of the skeptics question this phenomenon, but Deborah Fein, who is a psychology professor at the University of Connecticut, is among the group that is convinced that the facts are real. This week she presented research at an autism conference that was held in Chicago that included 20 children who, according to very rigorous analysis, received a correct diagnosis but years later were no longer still considered to be autistic. This study was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and involved children between the ages of 9 to 18.

Among these children was Leo, a boy from Washington, D.C., who once never made eye contact, who echoed most words spoken to him and often spun around in circles, all classic symptoms of autism. Today, he is an articulate and social third grade student, and his teacher calls him a leader.

Geraldine Dawson, who is an autism researcher and chief science officer of the advocacy group Autism Speaks, said that Fein’s research was a breakthrough. “Even though a number of us out in the clinical field have seen kids who appear to recover,” it has never been thoroughly documented like Fein’s work, Dawson stated. She also said that they were still at a very early stage in terms of actually understanding this phenomenon.

Previous studies have suggested that anywhere from 3 percent to 25 percent of children with autism recover. Fein says that her studies have shown that the range is between 10 and 20 percent. However, even after numerous amounts of therapy, carefully designed social activities, and education with rewards, most of the autistic children remain autistic.

Fein stated that recovery is not really a realistic expectation for the majority of the children, but the parents should know that it can happen. Doubters usually say that “either they really weren’t autistic to begin with…” or “they’re still socially odd and obsessive, but they don’t exactly meet criteria” for the illness. Fein said that the children that were in her study “really were” autistic and no the children are “really not.”

Catherine Lord, an autism expert from the University of Michigan, said that she has also seen autistic patients recover. Most of them had parents who spent long hard hours working with them on the improvement of their behavior. However, Lord also said that it is not likely that we will be able to predict whom this will happen for or whether it is possible to make it happen.

An autism specialist diagnosed the children from Fein’s ongoing study before the age of 5 but who in later years no longer meet the diagnostic criteria to be considered autistic. Early medical records confirmed the initial diagnoses for the children. Because this phenomenon is considered rare, Fein is still looking for more children to help bolster evidence on which traits the formerly autistic children may have in common. Her research team is also comparing these children with other children who were both autistic and non-autistic. So far, the kids that are considered to be “recovered” are turning out to be very normal on neuropsychological exams and verbal and nonverbal tests.

The researchers are also performing imaging tests to see if the recovered children’s brains resemble the brains of the autistic or non-autistic children. The brains of the children that suffer from autism tend to be slightly larger than normal. The imaging scans are also being performed to examine the brain function in formerly autistic children. The researchers want to know if their “normal” behavior is a result of “normal” brain activity, or if it is the way their brains process information in a non-typical way to compensate for any deficits. The results from these tests are still being analyzed.

Most of the children who were formerly autistic got long-term behavior treatment very soon after their diagnosis, in some cases for 30 to 40 hours a week. Many of the children also have above-average IQs and had been diagnosed with cases of autism that were relatively mild. By the age of 2, many were within the normal range for motor development, they were able to walk, climb, and also hold a pencil. The most significant improvement that suggested recovery was evident around the age of 7 in most cases, Fein stated.

None of these children have shown any sign of relapse, but nearly three-fourths of the kids that were formerly autistic have had other disorders which include tics, phobias, and attention-deficit problems. Also, eight of the children are still affected.