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Curing Autism in Infants via Behavioral Therapy?

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Sweetleaf
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10 Sep 2014, 8:12 am

riley wrote:
Quote:
http://time.com/3305027/autism-symptoms-disappeared-with-behavioral-therapy-in-babies/?xid=newsletter-brief.
The program involved intensive and intentional play by trained therapists at children?s homes. Once a week, the therapists went to the families? homes and purposefully engaged with the toddlers, who were between three years and five years old. Even when they were rebuffed, the therapists would persist, finding objects that appealed to the children and inserting themselves into the child?s play with that object so they were forced to have more social engagement. Eventually, the children responded, and even showed brain changes that suggested their brain patterns were normalizing to look more like those of children unaffected by autism.


It seems they may have been gradually desensitizing them from social anxiety and allowing others into their "space". At that age the brain is still developing so I do not see why it is not worth trying.

Isn't that a good thing rather than having a child sitting alone in a corner where they may be seen as an outcast and treated as such? Isn't this better than them spending their whole childhoods doing that with the soul crushing isolation, bullying and few or no friends? Isn't it a positive thing for young ASD children to have the opportunity to socially bond with others before their brain becomes even more unable to?

That is not eugenics.

If their brains have the potential to learn social skills then that is part of their potential and not denying who they are meant to be. It is just nurturing a seed that is already there before it is lost with age.


If it was limited to teaching them helpful social skills I wouldn't see much issue, sure its nice to be able to have an easier time interacting...though someone should not get treated like an outcast and bullied because of their autism or not being able to interact
'normally' its not up to autistic people to just be more social so it doesn't happen...those bullying and picking on that child should be more responsible for their actions towards others.

Also though is this forcing the baby to allow others in its space to the point of it being overwhelming, like just forcing too much close contact on them till they get 'used' to it....I can say if someone tried to do that to me it would stress me out, probably would have when I was a baby to.

Also though at that young of an age they can't really know for sure these children have autism i mean 6months old....not to mention even if they knew that without a doubt in their mind, there is no way of telling how the autism would have effected that particular individual without the intensive behavioral therapy which I think only serves to mask ones autism and traits associated with it rather than actually improving certain brain functions in a healthy way.


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riley
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10 Sep 2014, 10:36 am

Sweetleaf wrote:
If it was limited to teaching them helpful social skills I wouldn't see much issue, sure its nice to be able to have an easier time interacting...though someone should not get treated like an outcast and bullied because of their autism or not being able to interact
'normally' its not up to autistic people to just be more social so it doesn't happen...those bullying and picking on that child should be more responsible for their actions towards others.


Of course kids should be made accountable for bullying.. but regardless it is still better for ASD kids to have more skills in interacting.

Quote:
Also though is this forcing the baby to allow others in its space to the point of it being overwhelming, like just forcing too much close contact on them till they get 'used' to it....I can say if someone tried to do that to me it would stress me out, probably would have when I was a baby to.


As I said earlier it looks like it would be gradual. If it were not it would not be successful as the kid would just shut down.

Quote:
Also though at that young of an age they can't really know for sure these children have autism i mean 6months old....not to mention even if they knew that without a doubt in their mind, there is no way of telling how the autism would have effected that particular individual without the intensive behavioral therapy which I think only serves to mask ones autism and traits associated with it rather than actually improving certain brain functions in a healthy way.


6 months sounds young but babies still have "tells" with eye contact etc. I don't think a baby would be able to mask/pretend to be interacting. It would be just be a matter of exercising those parts of the brain that may otherwise become atrophied if nothing is done. Use or lose it. They will still have ASD but social skills may be easier to develop and I do think it may also help with sensory overload.