What Treatment or Therapy Have You Tried Last to Cure Autism?

[disconnected]

As presumably I’m one of the guilty let me try this another way.
If this person is the parent of a child I find the wording and phrasing of the original question very strange “what treatment or therapy have you tried last to cure autism?”

Firstly, when I was diagnosed the first thing I was told was there is NO cure for autism it is a developmental condition blah blah. I was also given an information pack which reiterated brain wired differently, NO cure but this condition shouldn’t stop you leading a full life etc.

When my child was diagnosed she was told you are on the autism spectrum, you will have it for life, there is no cure, but you can still lead a full life etc etc. She also received an info pack similar to mine but for kids with phone numbers etc.

The point is everyone seems to be told it’s a life long condition with no cure one way or another. Even a cursory search on the internet will come up with the same thing, there is no cure, nor is there ever likely to be one! The one thing I would guess that the parents of most autistic children do is research, research research. The things research points to are strategies, techniques and maybe ‘therapies’ such as ABA however what they all have in common, is there is no cure. So baring all this in mind why would you come here to ask parents about the latest treatment or therapy they used to try and ‘cure’ their child?

They also wrote -



No mention of my son or daughter nephew or niece etc. Any information like that would have been helpful but the OP didn’t make an introduction post. Also how can one recommend a therapy or treatment to others? Every child is different and what one child may find beneficial, may drive another to total meltdown!

I have no problem trying to help parents but I don’t appreciate how this was gone about it doesn’t seem right to me.

I was thinking of a possible troll.

 

[Clueless in Canada]

Dear Jorge, I am autistic and so is my adult son. I did not ever attempt or wish to cure either myself or him. I viewed my son as a unique individual with his own set of wants and needs. I gave him the benefit of the doubt always and assumed that anything that looked like bad behaviour had a reason. I specifically taught him skills he would need in life, not worrying about whether or not others intuitively learned these skills. I applied patience and love and acceptance. This is how I was also raised, albeit with a few differences that are appropriate to and associated with the different time period. There is no cure for autism but there are definitely ways to assist your child to function optimally and be happy in life. There are indeed associated conditions that can make life difficult for an individual with autism and his family. Those things are not autism but they are found in higher numbers amongst those who are autistic. Not every autistic individual will have all of them and some may have none of them but depression, anxiety, seizures, intellectual disability are a few which are certainly worthy of compassion and assistance, including seeking a cure where possible. Remember to consider that just because you find a particular trait irritating or unfathomable does not mean your child suffers from it.

The most helpful thing in raising a child who is autistic is knowledge and the support of understanding peers. When you seek out parent support groups please be sure to avoid those that frame autism as a tragedy. People here are very kind and supportive though we are all sensitive to certain issues such as the implication that we are broken and need fixing. If you are sincere and open to it, you can find support and advice here. I wish you the best.

 

[tree]

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[Nitro]

I'm going to step in here and suggest that possibly the wording was incorrect in the OP.

Correct, a cure is not possible, but relieving some symptoms would be welcomed here.

No one will learn anything from bashing a member. Good communication is something I believe is necessary if we are to come to terms with our differences.

To ridicule others over a lack of education about a subject solves nothing in the end.

I'm going to bet that at one point in time, none of you knew a thing about the autism spectrum before you learned about it.

Were you ridiculed for trying to understand it?

I'm guessing not, and will now ask that you educate, not humiliate.

 

[Dadwith2Autisticsons]

Regardless the intentions of the original poster, whether they were just a parent who wanted some answers, some student doing a study which is not uncommon seeing that here, an Autistic who is considering some treatment, some troll trying to annoy members, or someone with some bias in finding mainly the benefits, I agree that it would have been more polite and correct, if the original poster would not have used that “cure” word. It could have been a mistake. Not sure.

Most everyone by now should know no such cure treatment exists for not only this condition, but many others. As well, I feel the original post could have been more well received if that original poster had indeed explained why the questions were being asked, as we have no knowledge of who the member is based on that post and prior posts that were brief, with no information about whether they could relate to Autism in any way. We cannot assume that is the case.

Perhaps no harm was intended from the op, and if that was the case, I am sure others here would have worded things nicer or differently. To be fair though, that person should consider elaborating what was meant by their use of “cure” and explain the reason for the questions, and to apologize that members felt insulted. Even I as a parent thought it was insulting. Otherwise, it is natural for some inferences to be made by group members, and feelings to be further hurt. In some way, hearing the word “cure” can be just as triggering as some hearing racist or sexist terms, for obvious reasons.

Still, I feel the op could have just made a mistake with the wording, as that can happen, and perhaps had good intention. But, I definitely can see why some others here got a bit snippy, as seen from the things I had also said.

 

[GadAbout]

Well, I for one enjoyed the humor. The OP approached the forum in a weird way and if they are even reading the replies, they have learned a major lesson in a big way.

Not feeling shamed.

 

[Progster]

if the original poster would not have used that “cure” word. It could have been a mistake. Not sure.

I think that people outside the autism community don't know how inflammatory words like 'cure' can be. Not being in touch with the community and how we feel, they might make an assumption that a person with autism would want to be cured, simply because people with other conditions like depression or anxiety usually do. It then takes a thread like this for them to realise that most of us feel differently about the matter. Also, the OP is addressing parents of autistic people, not the autistic people themselves... it's their right to do so of course, but on a site where the vast majority of members are autistic themselves, it's bound to cause a reaction. There are always going to be threads like this from time to time.

 

[Nitro]

Although he said "cure", he did say in his sentence, "in respect to helping children with autism in any tiny, detectable way".

Sorry Jorge, I don't have answer too, since no child. maybe you can try to find in other threads, maybe there were similar threads to this, i'm not sure though.

Maybe some kind of early education - teaching basic daily life routines, conversation..? Or if that's too early for the child because of sensory issue etc, maybe address that issue first..?

I feel this was an attempt to address the original intention of the OP's thread.

I think more should try to get past the word cure in the post title and show a little better support.

 

[Kevin1968]

Just my humble opinion but I think that to many here the word "survey" is almost as inflammatory as the word "cure".

Perhaps it is just me, but I sometimes think that people come here just to mine the community for information that they then intend to use to make a profit from the same community.

Could a set of guidelines should be posted for those who wish to conduct a survey? (suggest clarification of reason for survey; e.g. for personal reasons, for "college" projects, commercial projects, advising against using trigger words such as "cure" etc).

Is it practical for the moderators to preview posts requesting surveys and advise the poster on how they could word the survey to get accurate feedback from the community here?

 

[Nitro]

Just my humble opinion but I think that to many here the word "survey" is almost as inflammatory as the word "cure".

Perhaps it is just me, but I sometimes think that people come here just to mine the community for information that they then intend to use to make a profit from the same community.

Could a set of guidelines should be posted for those who wish to conduct a survey? (suggest clarification of reason for survey; e.g. for personal reasons, for "college" projects, commercial projects, advising against using trigger words such as "cure" etc).

Is it practical for the moderators to preview posts requesting surveys and advise the poster on how they could word the survey to get accurate feedback from the community here?

Maybe the words were inflammatory.
Maybe he was just mining the place for info.
Maybe he was compiling info that could help others better understand what works and what doesn't.

Na, what a foolish thought that is

------------------------------------------------


We do have guidelines for polls and requesting info.

We do a lot of things related to that behind the scenes, long before they spiral out of control just to keep things straight here.
He wasn't asking for personal info, so it was given a green light.

My mistake for not removing the word cure from the title of the thread.
If you need a whipping boy, I will step up to the plate for this one

 

[tree]

@Kevin1968
The set of questions the OP posed were stated in the first post.
There's not a link to any off site 'survey'.

Instead of saying, rather formally, that he was taking a survey, he
could have said "I have some questions." But that's not how he
put it, and I left it that way.

I didn't imagine so many people would find it necessary to take
him to task over the words.

 

[Fino]

The OP itself is a reasonable post and I'd be interested in answers to it. The title is the only problem, not only because of the word "cure" but because of the frightening implication that many attempts have been made and the OP's curiosity lies with the most recent attempt made.

 

[tree]

I think the OP specified most recent, because if previous approaches had succeeded,
there would have been no perceived need for additional therapeutic attempts.

 

[BlueSky Aozora]

This is not answers for OP's questions, but just a mere opinion after reading the thread. Just to share; i hope it's not triggering or hurtful to anybody.

Obviously survey is for research project, but since no questionnaire given, i think this might be for a student's small project.

Survey/questionnaire is a common method used in scientific research to get data, for further research. Researcher spends lots of time for researching about things they're interested in/care about. Not everybody even ever heard about the word autism. Having more people willing to work in this cause is a good thing.

Scientific research about autism is not even complete yet; since nobody could ever dissect human brain in real time etc to understand more about human brain because it's unethical. So, even if there's no 'cure' in today's world, what if there will be more advanced technology to re-wire our brains, or that our brains can download skill, or attach an extra memory etc for more computing power?

Okay that's too imaginative maybe. But just because we've been told there's no 'cure' today, there might be 'cure' in 1000years later. Ok, let's set aside whether we want to be 'cured' (changed) or not, or whether it's really a 'cure', whether it's insulting or not.. that might be more of matter of choices, definition, and opinion.. (which i dont want to argue about.. I'm just here to share).

Anyway, more importantly, from what i've read, some NT find that it's troubling when some autistic people they deal with, tend to focus on the mistake of one word that the NT unharmly mentioned - the word seems triggering to the autie, and then the whole conversation turns to a tiring battle, where the autie debates with the NT about the particular word..

This is troubling because the point that the NT wanted to convey was not even about the particular word; so important points get brushed away, both parties get tired & felt hurt, thus lost of connection.. Sadly.

I tend to accidentally do that too.. Hope i can be aware of it in the future. Easier said than done though..

 

[Streetwise]

This is not answers for OP's questions, but just a mere opinion after reading the thread. Just to share; i hope it's not triggering or hurtful to anybody.

Obviously survey is for research project, but since no questionnaire given, i think this might be for a student's small project.

Survey/questionnaire is a common method used in scientific research to get data, for further research. Researcher spends lots of time for researching about things they're interested in/care about. Not everybody even ever heard about the word autism. Having more people willing to work in this cause is a good thing.

Scientific research about autism is not even complete yet; since nobody could ever dissect human brain in real time etc to understand more about human brain because it's unethical. So, even if there's no 'cure' in today's world, what if there will be more advanced technology to re-wire our brains, or that our brains can download skill, or attach an extra memory etc for more computing power?

Okay that's too imaginative maybe. But just because we've been told there's no 'cure' today, there might be 'cure' in 1000years later. Ok, let's set aside whether we want to be 'cured' (changed) or not, or whether it's really a 'cure', whether it's insulting or not.. that might be more of matter of choices, definition, and opinion.. (which i dont want to argue about.. I'm just here to share).

Anyway, more importantly, from what i've read, some NT find that it's troubling when some autistic people they deal with, tend to focus on the mistake of one word that the NT unharmly mentioned - the word seems triggering to the autie, and then the whole conversation turns to a tiring battle, where the autie debates with the NT about the particular word..

This is troubling because the point that the NT wanted to convey was not even about the particular word; so important points get brushed away, both parties get tired & felt hurt, thus lost of connection.. Sadly.

I tend to accidentally do that too.. Hope i can be aware of it in the future. Easier said than done though..

if they’ve been a lot more detailed explanation at the start it wouldn’t of bothered me but it was too much like autism speaks .

 

[Bronzelincolns]

self-acceptance

 

[Kalinychta]

I'm going to step in here and suggest that possibly the wording was incorrect in the OP.

Correct, a cure is not possible, but relieving some symptoms would be welcomed here.

No one will learn anything from bashing a member. Good communication is something I believe is necessary if we are to come to terms with our differences.

To ridicule others over a lack of education about a subject solves nothing in the end.

I'm going to bet that at one point in time, none of you knew a thing about the autism spectrum before you learned about it.

Were you ridiculed for trying to understand it?

I'm guessing not, and will now ask that you educate, not humiliate.

I was going to say this very thing. So many kids with autism struggle terribly (adults, too), so I certainly could never blame a parent for wanting to find a cure for her child's suffering.

 

[Gracey]

so I certainly could never blame a parent for wanting to find a cure for her child's suffering.

I'd agree.
But would first like to know what the child was "suffering" from?

Would a parent hell bent on curing their child of Autism cause more damage or trauma to the child?
I'd have to ask who the cure was for?
To have the parent less frustrated at what they didn't understand? To make their parenting a little easier?
Or to help the child?

Yes, I am offended over the word "cure"
Change the title question and I'll change my initial answer.

 

[BlueSky Aozora]

if they’ve been a lot more detailed explanation at the start it wouldn’t of bothered me but it was too much like autism speaks .

i'm not familiar with autism speaks.. What did they do? Is it a bad website?

..and yeah, i dont know how to differentiate a troll or a genuine people, so i might be wrong.. Thanks for pointing out.

 

[Streetwise]

i'm not familiar with autism speaks.. What did they do? Is it a bad website?

..and yeah, i dont know how to differentiate a troll or a genuine people, so i might be wrong.. Thanks for pointing out.

Autism speaks Is essentially an organisation for parents with autistic children until very recently was completely given over to finding a cure !!!!!!for autism is now to support !!!autistic people, doesn’t sound like it to me ,from what I’ve read, The founders Mr Wright (Mrs Wright is now dead )is now setting up an organisation, basically that blames all mentally ill people for gun crime ,the government are funding it !