What evidence supports the assumption that autism can not be cured?

Question

I'm curious. I've always believed that autism can be corrected (perhaps cured is not the appropriate word). . . we just don't have the means to do so yet. There has been tremendous success in mainstreaming high functioning autistic children and I think it is just a matter of time before the medical and educational community comes up with a better way to teach lower functioning children. However, many do not agree . . .

Answer 1

As parents of children with autism,we have to have hope that a cure will be found but I have been on the autism cure, remission, reversal, whatever the term,roller coaster for too long,not to be guarded.There has been everything from swimming with dolphins to the latest (but not new) attention to the gluten/casein free diet.And dozens of other treatments in between.Ive had my heart broken too many times.I would not accuse any parent that tries something, and thinks their child's autism was reversed as lying but it makes me wonder if the original diagnosis of autism  is correct,in those cases.Could it be that  a food allergy alone manifests symptoms of autism,so when the diet is changed,the symptoms are gone? Or perhaps ,in these cases of remission, the kids are too young to say if true remission has occurred.Behaviors that may be typical in a 5 year old,may change the conclusion of remission if they continue through adulthood. I don't believe we will ever have a true cure until the cause is found.

Answer 2

Actually, there are a number of methodologies that treat autism successfully. Applied Behavior Analysis has proven to be very efficacious. Run a 'Net search for "Verbal Behavior" and you will see how successful this approach is. Also, the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis has numerous studies regarding the treatment of people with autism spectrum disorder.

Answer 3

Well, for one, nobody has actually been cured? Isn't that enough evidence for you? There are behavioral interventions and strategies in order to more effectively teach those students, but it doesn't cure them. Additionally, there is something called medication. The combination of the two is the most effective way to have students with autism comply with social standards and be included in least restrictive environments.

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I just have to comment on the ABA therapist... first, do you know what ABA even stands for? And secondly, ABA does not cure autism in any way shape or form. The basis of applied behavior analysis means that you analyze the behavior first to determine the function, and then apply treatment functionally. ABA infers a systematic approach to observation, data collection, and applying treatment accordingly. ABA is not discrete trial. There may be ABA components embedded within that teaching tool, but from what I've encountered, most ABA therapist don't realize that.

My point is... Applied Behavior Analysis is effective if used correctly... Yes, read there are several interventions that come from ABA in addition, like shaping, modeling, chaining. Also, it does not cure anyone, but simply changes their behavior.

Answer 4

I am a former ABA therapist and now a mother to a child with autism.  I dont know where these people are getting there info, but they must live in states that do not have good ABA programs.  When I was in college I worked for WEAP while the were replicating Lovaas's study on ABA therapy and recovery.  Almost 50% of the kids in both studies "recovered" meaning they were in a reg. ed classroom with no aid by 1st grade, were social, indistinguishable from their peers, normal IQ, etc... these kids were followed to adulthood and were still successful (married, had friends, college grads, etc..).  All of the kids made improvement even if they did not recover.  So, no there is no cure, but there is hope.

Answer 5

People with type 2 diabetes can not be cured.  Neither can people with bipolar disorder.  Autism , at this time, has no cure.  Yes , with early intervention, intensive therapies, access to programs and support services and, in some cases, use of alternative therapies, many people with autism will see signifigant improvement.  But less than 10% ever make it to the point where the improvement is to the point that the symptomology is so minimal as to be unnoticeable or to have little to no affect on the person's ability to live a "normal" life.  Many people think that because there is no physical disabilities asssociated with autism, the impact is reduced as the person gets older and recieves services.  To some degree, that is true (and is certainly the goal).  But the majority (over 90% ) of people diagnosed on the autistic spectrum (including Aspergers and PDD) will always struggle with some portion of thier life. Their ability to form personal relationships will always be affected and they will almost always struggle with social clues and cues.  

Every parent of a child with autism wants to see progress.  But autism is a neurological disorder...there is something not functioning correctly in some part of the brain basically...and until we can identify what it is and why it happens, we can not develop a medical "fix" for it.  A cure or correction would mean we can make it go away...and we can't.  An child with autism will be an adult with autism...just some will function at higher levels than many.

Answer 6

I think at this point you can mitigate autism, but not cure it.  The diabetes example is very apt.  Also, autism does not appear to have one specific cause.  Right now there is promising research into what may be a future actual cure for fragile -X type autism, but that's only one subset of ASD.  

We have great hope for future treatments and options, but wouldn't say "cure".  Biomedical treatments do seem to help, such as certain vitamins, gluten free diets, pharmaceutical interventions for certain symptoms like OCD behaviors, but it's not a cure yet.

Answer 7

I'm sure you are getting sick of seeing me  ;) hehehe

Autism is a lifelong disability. I don't feel there will ever be a true cure for autism, which all in all I hope is not true, but how can you find a cure if you don't know the cause?  Let's take a look at diabetes for example it's a disability that medical professionals have theories as to what causes it, but yet no concrete evidence to support it, just like autism. A person with diabetes takes insulin to prevent seizures, they change there diet because of the blood sugar levels, but it does not cure them of it, they still have diabetes. Same goes with autism..you can use different therapies and treatments, you can implement the glutin free/ dairy free diets, use medicines,  and yes it can improve characteristics of autism, but it will never cure them of it. Just because charateristics improve doesn't mean the autism is now gone. Since we know that people who have the same charateristics of autism can act completely different from each other we also know that what may work for one person with autism may not always work for another. Until we can figure out the cause(s) of autism I don't think we can cure it, only continue to come with news ways of improving certain characteristics which again may not work for everyone. I don't think that no matter how much we improve treatments/therapies, medicines, and diets it will never truly correct/cure autism, only improve characeristics in some people. I'm sure it is only a matter of time before medical and educational communities comes up with a better way to teach lower functioning childern but it will not cure them of their autism.