Children 'may grow out of autism'

[Divrom]

Thought some of you might be interested in this:

BBC News - Children 'may grow out of autism'

 

[King_Oni]

I read something similar about it. The thing in a lot of cases is that faulty "wiring" could eventually be fixed... or at least, tried to be "fixed". A child's brain is still pretty moldable in that sense. Still, the article is also correct that it takes a lot of effort, therapy and what have you to straighten it out. And to be a pessimist in this all; especially therapy and coaching are getting expensive enough to make it not affordable for everyone anymore, hence autism could become a lower class problem in a lot of cases.

 

[Tarragon]

Claims that some people can "grow out of autism" made

Kids 'can grow out of autism' - The Times of India


How can you "grow out" of something like this? Could it not be that some people on the milder end of the spectrum (hellooooo Aspergers diagnosis!!) learn to conform??

 

[Tarragon]

Ah, I've just posted a news thread about the same thing I think! Ooops! "Growing out" is a bit of an insulting term don't you think? Does it imply that we all just "never grew up"?? Things change over time. Lucky for some if it happens. Not a "grow out of it" sort of thing...

 

[Soup]

I think that what is more likely happening is that as we grow up, we learn more & more about how NT society works so we get better at donning our NT drag & making ourselves appear like them. We cultivate more strategies for social situations (like how to stim in a less obvious manner) we are out of the neurosis-provoking atmosphere of high school & many of us become more comfortable being what & who we are & gain some confidence.

Also, since society places so much value on people who can hold down a job (even if it's part time), being employed can look like you've somehow grown out of it & are just a slightly awkward kind of quiet employee.

 

[smith2267]

I think it was high functioning kids and they learned to hide it.
I don't pull opinions out of my ass--I base this on what the article said, about their social symptoms being mild at the start of the study

 

[Arashi222]

One does not outgrow a neurological disorder, however that being said you can always learn coping skills. Most kids learn to adapt in varying degrees and forms. Its not really even NT drag its just learning what you have to do to function in the world. A lot of us have other learning issues too that we have had to overcome. We learn skills as kids that help us to compensate for the weakness that we have.

 

[Dragon's Tooth]

I think if you get help early in life you can at least hide it better. But I don't think you can out grow it. I wish I had gotten help early in life. I might be able to cope better in this world now. But alas no one knew that my symptoms were asperger's. And I do find it a bit insulting that they say you can grow out of it, like its a illness with a cure. You know where that leads don't you? it leads to people asking why you still have it when your an adult and then why you didn't grow out of it and is it really a condition or something you made up. This is how people stop taking things like asperger's seriously. I mean there is enough of a struggle with things like depression.

 

[jellybean590]

I actually know from personal experience that there is truth to this. My younger brother was diagnosed with autism at age 6. He couldn't talk read or write and was held back multiple times and eventually put into a school for children with learning disabilities. He was given therapy, extra help and was put on a lactose/gluten free diet up until high school.(which some dr. said would help..?) Now he is 16 years old, and he appears to be completely normal. He can talk, and in fact has tons of friends and is one of the most sociable people I know. The only thing he really has a problem with is focusing and completing things like homework ect. It just takes him longer. I'm not sure what we did right or if he's just some miracle but its truly amazing seeing videos and pictures of him from so long ago and comparing them to him now.

 

[King_Oni]

I know this is a long shot and "schrodinger cat"-esque, but there's something I'd be interested in, especially after seeing that Temple Grandin video a while back where she talked about the MRI scan of her brain.

I'm interested in seeing if the brain of a "corrected", post-ASD (for lack of a better word), child processes information the same way a NT child would do. If that's the case, then yes, I think it's safe to assume it can be... well, fixed. If not, then I think it's safe to assume the brain just found a way to cope with what has been learned until then. And that kinda puts it back to square one IMO.

Also; and that's a big problem with this kind of statement that someone can grow out of autism. Isn't social and cultural influence a factor as well? In some areas, especially small communities, people seem to be more accepting about some minor divergencies in behaviour. To them John is just John... and it's the way he's always been. In bigger communities there's more reflection on what's the norm. One in 50 acting weird is eccentric, one in 5000 is wrong behavior.

Why I mention it being "Schrodinger cat"-esque is because you can't both assess the same brain cured and "diseased" (mind the quotation marks; I use this word as an opposition of cure, not as a statement to make autism look like a disease by itself) within the same information processing stream AND at the same exact time.

 

[Jacki Cucinotta]

I don't think "out-grow" is quite the best term to describe what's happening according to what the study describes and what tends to happen in real life. It's too harsh and black-and-white.

 

[Geordie]

my parents kept on saying I 'outgrew autism'.

However, I beg to differ. I still feel helpless socializing with others, and I can't get through job interviews atm

 

[Jacki Cucinotta]

Another good reason why I'm not that fond of the word "out-grew". It's too premature and somewhat of a "jump-to-a-conclusion-and-that's-that" kind of a word.