Raun Kaufman says he was cured of autism, what do you think?

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Here are videos of him. He claims not to have symptoms anymore and watching the video he doesn't show any autistic traits. I've watched videos of passing autistics and they don't have the same body language and conveyance of emotion Raun has. Is there any explanation for this or do you think he never had autism in the first place?

He's a salesman for yet another stand alone non-accredited therapy method. It reminds me of Asperger's Experts. "I beat autism and now I'll cure your kid". No credentials, unresearched, no peer review, anecdotal results.

People still pitch this kind of stuff to my parents on FB. Even though I go to a really good school for autism.

I think that's really the bottom line, could that guy get a job at a clinic or genuine school for autism?

Last edited by EzraS on 05 Apr 2017, 7:45 am, edited 1 time in total.

These "therapies" are raking in the cash for now, but wait until autistic kids become autistic adults. They will likely be those who ignore and ridicule these claims.

After all, whatever happened to "conversion therapy for LGBT individuals? That's right, discredited and bankrupt. Besides, I actually like my autism (most of the time). Why would I want to change the devil I know into the devil I don't know?

I'm all for qualified therapy. You might not need/want it, but I sure as hell do and have benefited greatly from it. It was either that or spending a lifetime sitting in a corner rocking back and forth. Autism isn't curable, but it is treatable. By those who are qualified to treat it. Not Billy-Bob's Autism Klinic run out of a garage.

I was speaking only for myself. By doing so, I intended to show that not all autists want or need a "cure" (invented or otherwise). I am a big fan of Tony Attwood's Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, though. I apologize.

Right. I've needed it, but I could see it being basically pointless for others. Especially someone older who's already developed compensation skills. CBT on the other hand for someone who's gotten scared along the way is a good thing I believe.

A friend of mine is a qualified practitioner specializing with ASD kids, people just hand her money.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm...NO.

I guarantee you this guy is a psychopath.
A psychopath who has found his niche preying on families who have autistic children.

It may be that he thought he was autistic when younger because many (non-negative) traits of psychopaths for kids can easily be confused for autism traits.

It's quite obvious to me this guy was never autistic.

Psychopaths are notoriously adept communicators and manipulators. And they're very often quite expressive and charming, as this guy apparently is.

Mystery solved IMO.

I've only been awake for over an hour and already my day is ruined, thanks WP.

It's likely he is still on the spectrum but doesn't realise it because of only having his low-functioning days as a reference or he does realise it but is trying to pretend otherwise, some high-functioning Auties can mask very well. I bet he has loads of special interests and talks at people often socially or at least has to control himself.

I showed the short video to my dad and he said the guy's buggy eyes creeped him out.

There could be a lot of plausible reasons why he does not present as autistic now after presenting as severely autistic as a child in the 1970's, but I am not in the habit of diagnosing or undiagnosing somebody based on videos.

The Son-Rise program founded by his parents is particularly insidious. In this program parents are supposed to understand their kid, provide a low sensory environment, and imitate their kid including stimming in order to communicate with the child. On the face of it, this sounds like something the Neurodiversity movement advocates for and these people were doing it in the 1970's! But the goal is to get rid of the "bad" traits in order to cure the person of their autism.

TV Movie about Son-Rise that aired on May 14, 1979, five days after I graduated college.


I did not see the movie then but saw it a couple of years ago. I was amazed at the depiction and criticism of the prevailing attitudes and institutionalization of the time and the "solution". But then I read up on Son-Rise

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 05 Apr 2017, 11:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

Maybe he's trying to be all macho about the fact that he's learned to compensate. That's the impression that I have. There's also a chance that he wasn't autistic to begin with.

^ That. And like mentioned above, a possible psycho finding a niche praying on parents of autistic kids.

People claiming stuff like that are mostly just charlatans and/or snake oil peddlers.

What do I think?
I think anything is possible; but only some things are probable.