“Your child is autistic.” No parent wants to hear those words. But if they do, treating their child’s autism becomes paramount. Some parents, including advocate and actress Jenny McCarthy, claim to have cured their children’s autism through natural methods. But others insist we should be more focused on managing the disorder than pursuing something elusive. When it comes to autism, what’s the real diagnosis?
Dr. David Celiberti, President
This statement is too vague to be accurate or helpful. Some educational interventions have been demonstrated to be effective through empirical research published in peer reviewed journals, others have not. Parents and educators alike need more explicit information to guide them in their decision making. The above argument would be more helpful to these groups if it acknowledged that: 1) educational interventions are not equal in their efficacy; and 2) that educational practices should be guided and informed by the published research that already exists and continually shaped by new research as it is published.
We agree with the use of word “apparently” in the final sentence: “Some children have lost their autism diagnoses apparently as a result of intensive education intervention. “ One of the basic principles underlying the scientific method is that conclusions are to be stated cautiously, not stated as certain fact. This caution is particularly important when one is positing a causal relationship between a treatment being used and a possible effect of that treatment on a child's functioning. Unfortunately, it seems that many statements put forth on this site by those on the other side of this debate have the ring of absolute certainty. They are offered with astounding confidence, particularly troubling in light of the absence of adequate scientific support.
Many children with autism are educated by skilled teachers and related service providers who use evidence-based teaching practices such as ABA, and who collect objective data to assess and interpret progress. Often children also receive other treatments here and there. Unfortunately, when a variety of interventions are delivered simultaneously, it is impossible to determine which has effected change. In some cases, progress may be erroneously and entirely attributed to one of these novel treatments while the contributions of a data-based educational intervention are either minimized or disregarded.
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