Autism – Distinguishing myth from science

1. Critical periods for speech and brain development in Autism

You may have been one of the many parents who were needlessly terrified and driven to taking desperate acts after being told that if intervention is not intensively conducted by some early age – typically by the age of 5 – the brain will have solidified and we will have had no further chance to influence its development. Many ‘experts’ state this as if it were fact.  However, research does not support this supposition.

I have begun to think of this particular notion as the ‘hard-boiled egg theory’ of the brain.  Children’s brains are thought of as if they were eggs set on the stove to boil.  They start out “raw” at birth and gradually became soft boiled.  But if left in the ‘pan’ for too long the supposition is that brains ‘harden’ and become unchangeable.

While this is an interesting notion, the fact is that the ‘hard-boiled-egg theory’ does not correspond to any theory or research conducted by modern neurology.  In fact, researchers have demonstrated that people’s brains change throughout their lives. The brain is a dynamic organism that is always altering its pathways and connections to become more efficient or solve new problems.  Even if we consider that some brain pathways become more solidified as we age, research demonstrates that the critical neural pathways that have been most frequently noted as central to ASD’s do not fully develop until at least early adulthood.  Modern neurological researchers do not accept the “critical period” notion.  Noted Psychiatrist Daniel Siegel (1999) summarizes this position well when he states, “The brain is also dynamic, meaning that it is forever in a state of change.  An open dynamic system is one that is in continual emergence with a changing environment and the changing state of its own activity.”

While no one would argue that early intervention – if conducted to meet the child’s needs – is always beneficial, we reject the belief that if certain abilities are not developed by a certain age it is too late.

 

2.   Autism Treatment

  • Intensively focusing on “discrete” skills does not lead to improved “continuous processing” abilities.
  • Claims of effectiveness, recovery and ‘evidence based’ treatments are based on very limited results.
  • The concept that more intervention hours are always better has not been borne out by research.
  • The idea that ‘trainers’ or ‘therapists’ are more effective than parents has not been borne out by research.
  • Clinical interventions focus on problems that people with autism may or may not have.  They do not focus on treating the autism itself.

3.   Autism Outcomes 

  • Anecdotes about famous people with ASD “dilute” the concept and minimize its seriousness.
  • Children are labeled as “high” and “low” functioning without any consensual meaning attached to the terms.
  • Parents are erroneously told that PDDNOS and Asperger’s Syndrome have a better prognosis than Autism.

4.   School and Autism

  • “Mainstreaming” is perceived as an indicator of success, when it does not necessarily indicate future functioning.
  • Parents are told to enroll their child in school as early as possible, even though typical children are allowed time to be “ready” for the school environment .
  • Accumulation and recitation of academic content is falsely viewed as a sign of progress.
  • Parents are falsely told that home schooling will be detrimental to the child.

5.   Defining Autism

  • Parents are led to believe that the acquisition of speech is a critical marker of improvement.
  1. Do the vast majority of individuals with ASD speak by adult years?
  2. Is there a difference between speech and language?
  3. Is speech desirable if it is not a representation of thought?
  4. What do language tests measure?

 

  • Intellectual deficits, as measured by IQ tests, are perceived as a central part of autism?
  1. Are most people with ASD mentally retarded?
  2. Does greater I.Q. predict greater quality of life?
  3. What do I.Q. tests measure? Is there more than one form of intelligence?

 

  • Behavioral symptoms are reactions to having autism. They are not the disorder itself.
  1. Is there a difference between superficial symptoms and underlying conditions?
  2. Is eye contact a problem in autism? Should you teach the ASD child to make eye contact?
  3. Are “Stimming” and “rigidity” unique to autism spectrum disorders
  4. Why do children with autism employ avoidance and attempts at control?  Are these intrinsic to autism?

 

 

 For more information contact us.