Jeff Stimpson

Today’s post is by Jeff Stimpson, author of the books Alex: The Fathering of a Preemie and Alex the Boy: Episodes From a Family’s Life With Autism.

A University of Washington study – billed as one of the first “rigorous” ones – regarding behavior treatment for autistic children as young as 18 months reports that two years of therapy can “vastly improve symptoms, often resulting in a milder diagnosis.”

Organizers of the study were encouraged despite the study involving just 48 children, and despite that early autism treatment remains controversial because of scant evidence showing whether it works.

In the study, children 18-to-30 months old were randomly assigned to either receive behavior treatment called the Early Start Denver model from therapists and parents, or be referred to others for less comprehensive care. The therapy focuses on social interaction and communication, such as therapists or parents repeatedly holding a toy near a child’s face to encourage eye contact, or rewarding children when they used words to ask for toys. After two years, IQ and language skills improved, and re-diagnoses were delivered with a less severe form of autism. No children were considered “cured” by the treatment, which can run $50,000 a year.

My first reaction as a parent of a boy with autism and as a journalist is that it’s amazing how many stories should be filed under “Obvious.” Alex has been receiving therapies since he was a baby living in a hospital, and we wish we’d started earlier, 50 grand be damned. I believe early treatment is to autism as scoring 50 points in the first quarter is to winning a football game: It only makes sense if you want to make your job easier.

This morning my son Alex (rigorously PDD-NOS) bounced out of bed and reached right for the pretzels and the Elmo video. I’ve explained to him over and over and over that there’s no TV in the morning, that breakfast is chocolate milk and yogurt or a banana. He screeched to wake the dead – or his little brother and mom, in this case – and sort of bit his own arm.

Alex will be 12 years old next summer. He loves his Elmo, and likes to watch at full volume through all family events with his hands down his pants. My wife and I try to stop him with both the Elmo and the pants; we often fail. We dream of a cure, but will accept any steps on the road to that cure.