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Health See other Health Articles Title: Autism therapy group says it cured 6 kids Autism therapy group says it cured 6 kids by Mary Beth Faller - Nov. 12, 2010 10:12 PM The Arizona Republic Results from a Phoenix study of a behavior therapy designed to cure autism give hope to thousands of Arizona families and could revamp special education in the state's public schools. But the costly price tag could keep the treatment out of reach for many families. And the state's budget crisis could mean implementation is years away at the school level. The Center for Autism and Related Disorders says it has cured six of 14 autistic children who participated in a $5.4 million, state-funded study in the Phoenix area. CARD, a nationwide private treatment and research organization with a program in Phoenix, received the state money for a three-year study to determine whether its intensive behavior therapy could cure young children who had been diagnosed with autism. Doreen Granpeesheh, CARD founder and executive director, announced the results at a news conference Thursday in Paradise Valley. "We were able to achieve normal functioning for 43 percent of our children - 43 percent are recovered," she said. Autism, a pervasive developmental disorder marked by impaired social interaction and communication, affects up to one in 110 children in America, according to CARD. Granpeesheh said the kids were 2 to nearly 5 years old when the study began in 2007 and underwent rigorous diagnostic measures. The children were enrolled on a first-come, first-served basis, as long as they had a confirmed diagnosis on the autism spectrum, said Jonathan Tarbox, director of research and development for CARD, based in Tarzana, Calif. "All children included in the program had confirmed diagnoses of autistic disorder at intake. This is the most severe diagnosis," he said. The CARD program provided 40 hours a week of a type of therapy called applied behavior analysis, known as ABA. The study subjects did much better compared with a group of children who received less than 15 hours a week of the same therapy, Granpeesheh said. After the therapy, the children were again tested on social skills, language adoption and IQ, and six of the 14 scored in the "normal" range. Granpeesheh said CARD's therapy model can be taught via Web-based training and the group is working with some school districts in California. State Sen. John Huppenthal, Arizona's newly elected superintendent of public instruction, has followed the CARD study closely over the three years and said it has potential applications in school districts' special-education departments. "These special-education students bring dollars to districts. I say, let's provide great service to these kids," he said. "The challenge now is money, when we're trying to sustain current levels of services. But that's not an excuse, and I think people can rise to the challenge." State Rep. Eric Meyer, a member of the Scottsdale Unified School District governing board, said his district has the technology to use that type of training, although paying for it is a big question. Meyer, a physician, noted 14 kids is not a large study. "We need a bigger sample size. But that's the next step, and we can offer that. We could get a grant for a bigger study now that we know the initial population results." Elizabeth and Richard Howell's daughter, Megan, 7, was part of the study, and they say she is recovered. She didn't speak and exhibited a classic sign of autism - repetitious behaviors. Disruptions to routines resulted in tantrums. "There were so many challenges in things that people take for granted, like a trip to Target. I was the only one who could put her to bed, and it was a 37-step process," said Elizabeth, a telecommunications executive. The therapy was highly intense. Richard quit his job as a professional golfer because the therapists were at the house every day. In addition, the Phoenix couple attended frequent meetings to learn how to apply the techniques themselves. If they had to pay for the program, it would have cost $200,000, he said. Megan had an aide when she started at Copper Canyon Elementary School in Scottsdale as a kindergartner last year. Now, she is in a regular first-grade class without an aide. When the Legislature approved funding for the CARD study, it also gave $500,000 a year for three years to the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center in Phoenix to set up a preschool program that combines autistic children with typical kids. The center uses play-based applied behavioral analysis. Daniel Openden, the center's vice president and clinical services director, said the CARD results are the latest to prove ABA-based therapy is the gold standard for autism treatment. He sees autistic children make amazing progress, but he doesn't say they are cured or recovered. "Recovery can mean different things to different people, so the key is to understand how recovery is defined," he said. "We see a range of outcomes in response to effective treatment, up to and including children who appear indistinguishable from their peers. But we're not comfortable saying that these children no longer have autism." Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2010/11/12/20101112autism-study-arizona.html#ixzz15BnymLSI
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#1. To: Red Jones (#0)
Let's see: The works on fewer than half the kids. The measurements, before and afterward, are highly subjective. It costs the earth. But, what the hell, let's do it because "it brings federal money into the district." Remember that "assisted communication" that was all the rage with parents of autistics about ten years ago? It turned out that, despite all the hype about "curing" them, it hadn't worked any improvement at all.
I am convinced that autism is caused by the vaccines given to children. because prior to 1990 when the required vaccine regimen was much smaller we had much less autism. back then it was 1 in 3000 I understand. and now it is more like 1 in 100 that gets autism. the vaccines did it. This is very expensive therapy and as the head of the therapy group says in the article the children are not really cured, but they seem to be. we are a society that ruins children and think nothing of it. In fact, anyone who objects is themselves a suspect person.
Psalms 137:1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
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