What do you make of these "recovered" kids?

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What's really going on here, when people claim that their child has recovered from autism?

Has the child learned how to repress who they really are? I saw a segment once on the news. A family spent a ton of money on ABA in-home therapy, I think the child went through 40 hours a week for a few years. I can't remember the specifics. Then the family was interviewed and he said, "Yeah, I remember when I was autistic..." The segment showed him playing soccer on a team and walking to a class.... He didn't have any remarkable characteristics during the interview, looked straight at the camera and answered questions with his hands down by his side, etc... etc...

Are all these kids I have read about in blogs, and this kid, Jenny McCarthy's kid... misdiagnosed? Or, through ABA, are they forced to mimic NT's? Will they experience depression as adults from all the tension of repressing parts of themselves?

What do you think is really happening?

Sounds like Ritallin to me, they dont 'cure' there kids. the kids either never had autism or are simply growing up

Most of the parents of these 'recovery kids' are celebrity socialites who dont know nowt and cant accept that there kids wont be part of mainstream society.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGW4a96GqGc[/youtube]

SPOILER ALERT: Shes an Idiot

As I understand it, Temple Grandin has said that she learned her way out of autism, that is, she became a kind of actress who could reduce the appearance of some symptoms of autism. Temple Grandin says she is autistic, not Asperger's, and she still has autism although her acting/coping skills make it less obvious to some persons. I do not understand the term - recovery from autism - or recovery from whatever. It seems to me there will likely be a residual there which is there forever so to speak. Personally I tend to feel that a number of businesses will push the idea of recovery from autism as a trick sales technique. I also feel a number of parents will tend to call their children recovered vs face the fact there still are residual symptoms. Some parents with children with challenges will describe their children as fine to almost all persons (perhaps as a way to create a positive picture of what's going on with the idea that the topic will soon be changed to something else). Human nature? Common patterns? Other?

(edited/reworded)

Children are shoved into ABA really early when they don't even need it-- as in, they just need a bit more time developmentally wise and then make the "recovery" all by themselves, without stressful ABA.

I really don't like the emphasis on diagnosing autism early. Early as in around the age of five, sure, but two is too early. It's getting too many children that don't actually have it or need it.

Yes, just like those of us who grew up and spent the better part of our lives unaware of our condition, they have simply been forced by the 'Behavioral Therapy' to repress who they really are and rest assured, it WILL come out sooner or later, as likely as not as an adult suicide.

relevant post from a Previous Thread < LINK

They may pass for relatively normal for many years to come, but their peers will always look at them askance and recognize that there's something 'not quite right' about them. No matter how many times you're told there's nothing wrong with you and you're just like everybody else and you'd better by-god get out there and act like it, and no matter how hard you try to comply, the Aspergian nature will win out in the end, because you cannot change how your brain is wired and how you see and experience the world. And I can personally vouch for what an extreme toll that takes in terms of stress and anxiety, even when you don't know why its happening - the effect is cumulative, and you can't repress that forever.

Are these 'cured' kids suddenly able to perform athletically with grace and dexterity? I'm not asking if they're willing to go out and participate with the team, when you teach them that not doing so is indicative of a mental illness, they're naturally going to try to appear normal - but are they any better at hitting a baseball than they were? There's a lot more to AS than just making eye contact and joining a group. Anyone who's 'cured' of a congenital neurological disorder never had one in the first place.

I remember them trying this "theripy" on me
and the more they tried the more I blacked out.

Whilst I was blacked out, I was told I
screamed, bit, and kicked and scratched
peple who were trying to "help" me.

I rememberd nothing and woke up with
bruidses and seeing bite and scratch
marks on the docs and nurses.

I wonder if it was all just made up krap
or if I really was forced into blackout.?

I was severely autistic as a child (nonverbal, headbanging, etc). I am still severely autistic, although I now speak and am socially interactive. I talk to the parents of severely autistic children, they seem to think I am some kind of inspiration because I lead a successful life. I can act my way though life and get by. However, most medical professionals can see right through my act in an instant. I still stim, headbang, etc. but I have learned to hide it very well. If there is a hidden camera in the bathroom or my bedroom, people would see just exactly how severe I really am. I've learned to lock the door. I feel the same applies to most autistic (including Aspie) people. We are not "recovered" we are acting for the benefit of society and ourselves. We learn to hide autistic behavior just as much as someone may hide their convictions in a repressive country.

I realize that without a diagnosis, I can't speak in any kind of "firm" sense, but I can say that I have definitely learned how to hide my traits in most cases, though I do think people realize I'm not like them. They may just file it away under "nerd" or "geek," but I think they probably know. In my case I probably don't have enough traits to qualify for AS, but there ARE traits there, and I can say that it's pretty ingrained and I may act, but I WILL go back to my nature.

I think at home if they had a hidden camera, someone would be more likely to peg me as having a PDD or traits of one than someone who saw me out in public (though I'm not sure ).

_________________
Official diagnosis: ADHD, synesthesia. Aspie quiz result (unofficial test): Like Frodo--I'm a halfling? 110/200 NT, 109/200 Aspie.

It could also depend on what the parents' expectations are. Some (or maybe a lot) probably think their autistic kid will defintely never speak, and will spend 70 years doing nothing but rocking in a corner. So, if their kid does learn to speak and tie his shoes, or do much of anything, then it's a miracle and he's "cured."

Some kids improve, some regress - I think all people grow and learn things and some kids are misdiagnosed. I find the stories of the "recovered" kids really sad - the ones I've read all seem to emphasise how sorry they are for being autistic and how sorry they are for not being the kids their parents wanted - it leads me to think they were either forced to say those things or have had those attitudes beaten into their heads so long that they convince themselves of it.

I think kids that have "recovered" need to be periodically assessed until they are about 25 before a conclusion is made if some of these kids really are being cured.

Bullshit, plain and simple.