JJ'S Journey

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What do others think of this trailer for a movie made by a mother of a boy with Asperger's?
She is claiming that early intervention cured his autism.
When I watch him speak, though, he looks like a regular asperger's teen to me.
Is the mother mistaking the normal maturation process of an asperger's child growing into an asperger's teen for a "cure"?
Or did all the work she did with him really change something in his brain?
Or did he just learn how to fake normal in a way that pleased his mother?
What's your opinion?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KPLHkkjYOE&feature=related[/youtube]

Huh....

I've seen these two before, and they didn't mentioned being cured from autism. JJ was on the Today Show representing AS.

The language in this video is confusing. I think she's saying that the negative behaviors associated with AS have been reduced to disappearing with biofeedback. And he's claiming to be able to think more clearly, and he's feeling more confidant.

I didn't hear either the mother or son say that he was no longer autistic, but more functional.

I'm surprised that biofeedback helped this much. It's used to teach people how to calm themselves down and self-regulate.

It's the modern, scientific- minded person's replacement for meditation practice.

He is obviously autistic. Is it just me, or does she seem like she could be on the spectrum, too?

It seems like pure quackery. Congratulations, Jeremy, you have gone from being an autistic child to being an autistic teenager. Next stop: being an autistic young adult. This sort of progression is perfectly normal.

They both STRONGLY imply that he has been cured from autism.

From 2:40 - 3:04 in the video, the mother says:

"Was my son misdiagnosed after all of these years? Or did we stumble across a possible cure for autism? I'm excited to share it with everyone, the therapy we are now experiencing that is literally erasing autistic behaviors and characteristics."

Immediately afterwards, the camera switches back to Jeremy who says that the therapy has repaired the damage to his brain and then talks about remembering back when he was autistic (as if to imply that he no longer is autistic.)

I noticed on the talk shows (I found this trailer through a talk show clip) they say that Jeremy is autistic. But in this trailer, there is talk strongly implying that he USED to be autistic and is cured now because of the Neuro Feedback Therapy.

Do you think his years of early intervention did anything for him at all? Or do you think it was just a waste of his parents' money and he would have developed pretty much the same way regardless?

I ask because I see so many things talking about the importance of early intervention and I can't help but wonder what I missed out on and how I might be different today if I'd had early intervention as well.

tenzinsmom wrote:

How does he seem obviously autistic to you? I don't ask to challenge but because I can't see myself as others see me and he didn't seem like he acted any differently than I would act, a little overly formal and with limited eye contact. Is that what it is or is there something else?

Not enough information. My little guy was dx'd as PDD-NOS for pretty good reasons but outgrew a lot of the symptoms and at 8 evaled as not even close to the spectrum, but not NT either. My other two are definitely Aspies. It's hard to say if he just had some issues that look like ASDs but weren't. A true ASD is genetic and isn't going anywhere.

It could be that he was just borderline and has the gene but it's just not as dominant so he doesn't seem so autistic.

The problem is when one person takes one story and tries to make it into some kind of movement or new therapy as if it's the "answer" for everybody and all those poor ignorant people who didn't do what she did are just missing the boat. I'm not saying this lady is that way, but it happens. That's just plain bad science. People are incredibly diverse, weird, messy, unique and unpredictableOne well meaning, but misguided lady isn't going to rock the boat much and she might even help out a couple of people who have similar issues. She could also confuse and discourage some people who would be better served trying to understand themselves or their child and focus on their strengths vs trying to change what their strengths are.

i found that video to be very creepy. maybe it was the music, maybe the sickly sweet tone from the mother, but it felt less like a documentary trailer and more like an intro video to some woo-woo based infomercial.

For some reason the vibe I got from that video was a poorly produced Scientology propaganda video. Good for Jeremy if the neurofeedback helped him in some way though.

I sort of got that impression as well...It sort of felt like they were trying to sell something.
The woman was a bit full of herself. Calling her family "pioneers in her community".
I also noticed the implication that this therapy is curing his autism or all the behaviours associated with it. I'm not convinced by it.

Oh, you're right Sparrowrose!

I guess I created my own meaning based on what I believe out of this. Since, to me, the message remains unclear. She introduces herself at the beginning of the video as "the mother of a 17 year old son".

But then goes on to say he's cured.... from biofeedback? Are you kidding me? Sure biofeedback can help anyone learn to relax and self-regulate their stress response. It can also help people with pain management. But to cure anyone of anything beyond anxiety and chronic stress, or pain. No, I don't think so.

Aimless- I say that he's obviously autistic because :

1. He has "the look"-- eyes looking outward and inward at the same time. or, like there is a veil there. It's hard to describe "the look" of autism, but he has it.

2. And his communication. It seems like a struggle. His diction is... creative let's say. It's like he's memorized different phrases and is stringing them together. He's doing well, he can make himself understood but it's not natural and the way typical people tend to use words. If my son is communicating like him at his age, I will be happy though.

They called it neurofeedback, so I'm not sure if it's the same thing as biofeedback or not. Biofeedback is designed to help a person control their bios - their body (heart rate, breathing, blood pressure, etc.) I would guess that neurofeedback is designed to help a person control their brain. But I'm not sure how it would work or how similar it would be to biofeedback.

John Robison was talking in one of his lectures about some kind of neurofeedback he was doing at some autism research clinic in or near Boston and he said it was amazing what a difference it had made in him and was talking along the edges of the idea that this therapy he was doing could cure autism. I wonder if it was the same thing as in the movie trailer . . .