Worst Article I have read in a long time

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ASPartOfMe
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21 Jul 2024, 10:37 am

Autism can be reversed, scientists discover - The Telegraph reprinted by MSN

Quote:

Severe autism can be reversed and symptoms reduced to an indistinguishable level, scientists have discovered.

Two non-identical twin girls in the US were found to have a level of autism at 20 months old that required “very substantial support”.

A groundbreaking trial saw their parents and a team of medical experts create a bespoke two-year programme of interventions designed to help the children thrive and flourish as much as possible.

Scientists say the programme was successful, with both girls undergoing “dramatic improvements” in the severity of their symptoms.

The progress of one of the girls, described only as Twin P, was heralded as “a kind of miracle” by one of the paediatricians. Twin P scored a 43 out of 180 on the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist scale in March 2022 and this was reduced to just four by October 2023.

“One of the twins’ symptoms were reversed to the point of being indistinguishable from children who had never had a history of autism symptoms,” Dr Chris D’Adamo, study author from the University of Maryland, told The Telegraph.

“This twin’s functions are comparable to those who never had an autism diagnosis.”

The other girl, known as Twin L, had more severe autism aged 20 months, scoring 76, and this was reduced to 32 a year and a half later.

“[This twin] improved dramatically, but not quite as much,” said Dr D’Adamo.

Improvements unlikely to be undone
The scientists do not use the term “cure”, but believe the improvements are unlikely to be undone over time.

“Because autism is a developmental condition, one can safely say that once they have overcome the developmental aspects of autism and returned to a typical developmental trajectory, they are very unlikely to exhibit the common symptoms of autism again,” said Dr D’Adamo.

“Symptoms that could return might be more along the lines of things like anxiety, gastrointestinal issues, sensory issues, but not necessarily the behavioural aspects of autism.”

The twins underwent behavioural analysis, speech therapy and a strict gluten-free diet and nutrition programme as part of the trial to reduce inflammation.

The diet was casein-free, a protein found in milk; low-sugar; had no artificial colours or dyes; zero ultra-processed foods; primarily organic; and locally sourced.

The girls were also given daily supplements for omega-3 fatty acids, multivitamins, vitamin D, carnitine, and others.

No singular cure to reverse symptoms’
Writing in the study, published in the MDPI journal Sexes, the anonymous parents said they knew there would not be a “singular cure” to reverse the symptoms and instead the programme focused on alleviating the “total load” on the children.

“Despite sharing similar genes and identical conception, gestation, birth experience, and post-natal factors - as well as benefiting from consistent nurture, home environment and family dynamics - each daughter presented an ASD diagnosis entirely uniquely,” they write.

“Conventional statistics have stacked the odds against the ability to recover a child from an ASD diagnosis.

“Our approach was therefore focused on following a nonconventional, holistic understanding of each daughter’s individual needs, exploring root cause and designing customised support.

The case study is published in the Journal of Personalized Medicine.

The Telegraph a decently respected outlet has decided that autism can be reversed based on a study of two people. You have got to be kidding me.

The Journal of Personalized Medicine claim they are peer reviewed. By whom, the Association of Quacks?

In all seriousness in recent years respectable studies have shown that in a very small percentage of children diagnosed with ASD the impairments are reduced enough so that they “lose the diagnosis”.

As far as I know these studies have not been following these people into their teenage years and adulthood, they are too recent. It is known that the increasing pressures and expectations as one moves on in life can overwhelm autistic people. In fairness the scientists did discuss this but they guessed that these children won’t “find” their diagnoses based on nothing. There is always the possibility that these children were never autistic or are “mild” enough to mask effectively enough to be considered “recovered”. Despite my doubts we still just do not know enough about autism to definitively say it can’t be cured in at least some people.

I can definitively say that there was gross irresponsibility by the scientists, the journal, and The Telegraph. As far as the parents despite their ableist language at least they say this is not for everyone. Unfortunately I expect massive PTSD problems down the road. Scammed or not if that is what happens that is what parents agreed to. I hope I am wrong.

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Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 21 Jul 2024, 11:57 am, edited 8 times in total.

TikvaBall
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21 Jul 2024, 11:07 am

Oh brother. This is going to make more parents get excited and turn their kiddos into lab rats.

Edna3362
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21 Jul 2024, 11:16 am

Another inflammation related improvement. :lol:
Nothing to do with autism, but it's mistaken that it's "about autism".

It can just be NTs to begin with, and just with inflammatory conditions that behaves not unlike with autism symptoms in response to inflammatory issues.
And ridding the inflammation is mistaken for 'reversing autism' -- when one doesn't have autism to begin with.

Getting rid of the inflammatory issues as an actual autistic of any support level actually gives some amount of EF IMO; making some detrimental autistic traits more affordable (in extreme cases, making autistic traits an advantage), certain developmental delays or even learning issues easier to work around with; it's mistaken as an "improvement" (the abilities exists to begin with even as an autistic, just not very accessible with inflammation) -- definately not a cure, let alone the claim that it can 'reverse autism'. :lol:

It is because losing inflammatory related issues and being overall healthier IS an easier existence than coping with it, with or without autism. :lol:

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BillyTree
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21 Jul 2024, 11:30 am

So what they lessened was "the behavioural aspects of autism" in a pair of toddlers. Whether they feel "cured" or not remains to be seen until they are old enough to speak for themselves.

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Double Retired
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21 Jul 2024, 3:04 pm

From what they said, their "cure" sounded to me like they taught them how to be good at masking.

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ChicagoLiz
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21 Jul 2024, 5:40 pm

I feel for those two very young children. Already lab rats, and if (let's face it: when) the supposed 'improvements' seem to disappear as they get older and have to navigate school, etc. then their parents aren't going to be thrilled. I hope they're safe, and will continue to be.

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MrsPeel
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22 Jul 2024, 7:04 am

Quote:

“Because autism is a developmental condition, one can safely say that once they have overcome the developmental aspects of autism and returned to a typical developmental trajectory, they are very unlikely to exhibit the common symptoms of autism again,” said Dr D’Adamo.

“Symptoms that could return might be more along the lines of things like anxiety, gastrointestinal issues, sensory issues, but not necessarily the behavioural aspects of autism.”

How wonderful, they've successfully helped these girls swap autistic behaviours for psychiatric disorders.
_[sarcasm]

ASPartOfMe
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22 Jul 2024, 11:14 am

National Autistic Society says:
“There are some articles in the news today about research that claims autism can be ‘reversed’.

This is deeply insulting to the more than 700,000 autistic people in the UK. We are completely baffled why this has even been published by UK papers. This is a case study of a single set of twins using interventions that are themselves questionable. There are absolutely no conclusions at all that can be drawn from this and to suggest otherwise is just irresponsible journalism. We’ve repeatedly told outlets that we can help decipher shoddy research and avoid misinformation being published.

Autism cannot be “cured” or “reversed”. Imagine seeing headlines that a core part of your identity could be “reversed”. Language like this sets us back and just goes to show how far we still have to go to build a society that works for autistic people.”

DuckHairback
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22 Jul 2024, 11:26 am

ASPartOfMe wrote:

The Telegraph a decently respected outlet has decided that autism can be reversed based on a study of two people.

The Telegraph was once a decently respected outlet. It's reputation today is bolstered by people who have been reading it since before its recent decline and haven't noticed yet.

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Aspiewordsmith
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22 Jul 2024, 1:16 pm

This sort of stuff is usually a work of The Daily Mail. Pure ableism there with stereotypes and projection. It is usually the right wing papers which print this kind of anti autistic propaganda. :idea:

ASPartOfMe
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24 Jul 2024, 9:12 am

A cure for autism? As researchers announce they have discovered a way to reverse condition, experts slam claims as 'bad science' and 'deeply insulting'

Quote:

Experts have slammed a study that claimed severe autism in children can be 'dramatically improved and reversed' with a controversial behaviour therapy.

It was claimed the girls' symptoms were drastically reduced — to an indistinguishable level in one of them — after a two-year programme of interventions.

These included giving them Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), which aims to teach autistic children how to behave in 'appropriate' ways.

But experts say the study was poorly devised and amounts to no more than an 'anecdote'.

'These are not evidence-based interventions,' said Dr Rosa Hoekstra, a leading expert on neuro-developmental disorders at King's College London.

'It's very bad science. It's just an anecdote. And we don't do anecdotes in science.'

Dr Hoekstra said the extremely small sample size — just two children from the same family — means the findings cannot be generalised to other children.

The study, published the little-known Journal of Personalized Medicine, relied solely on anecdotal reports and descriptions from the parents, rather than independent observations or assessments.

And the parents were fully aware of, and involved in, the interventions — so their reports may have been biased.

Dr Hoekstra said: 'If you've invested a lot of money and an incredible amount of time in these interventions, you will naturally hope to see results, and will likely frame any development you see as successful outcome.

'Autism is a constellation of personality characteristics, likes and dislikes, things that you might be good at, things that you might find difficult, and those tend to be fairly stable traits.

'Particular interventions can really help children or adults thrive. But that doesn't mean that fundamentally their personality or their being has changed.

'I don't want to discourage hope, because hope is important. But the language of "reversal" is an outdated and inappropriate concept in 2024.

'This is not responsible science. I work as an editor for a journal called Autism, but I would have never accepted this paper.'

Tim Nicholls, assistant director at the National Autistic Society, said the study was 'deeply insulting' to the more than 700,000 autistic people in the UK.

Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is highly controversial as it tries to 'train' autistic children to fit neurotypical standards.

The National Autistic Society says ABA is one of the most researched autism treatments, but there are significant limitations and gaps in the research, particularly about long-term effects.

It adds: 'We do not support any intervention that follows one-size-fits-all approaches...and we believe that some ABA interventions used today are not sufficiently person-centred and are too intensive.'

TikvaBall
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24 Jul 2024, 9:29 am

How'd I know it was just freaking ABA? So I guess they'd rather trade their autistic traits for PTSD traits instead. Yipes.

Honey69
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24 Jul 2024, 11:11 am

https://humanprogress.org/autism-can-be ... -discover/

Quote:

“Severe autism can be reversed and symptoms reduced to an indistinguishable level, scientists have discovered.

Two non-identical twin girls in the US were found to have a level of autism at 20 months old that required ‘very substantial support’.

A groundbreaking trial saw their parents and a team of medical experts create a bespoke two-year programme of interventions designed to help the children thrive and flourish as much as possible.

Scientists say the programme was successful, with both girls undergoing ‘dramatic improvements’ in the severity of their symptoms.

The progress of one of the girls, described only as Twin P, was heralded as ‘a kind of miracle’ by one of the paediatricians. Twin P scored a 43 out of 180 on the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist scale in March 2022 and this was reduced to just four by October 2023.”

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carlos55
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24 Jul 2024, 6:06 pm

This is the 2nd time such official scientific claim of preventing autism to have been made in the last 2 /3 years or so.

It’s probably distressing to those that are heavily invested in the unproven claims of ND movement of irreversible autism to see such claims undermined.

It shows science is working on this area with some small success and it’s likely to see further successes in the future.

The comments of National Autistic Society are outrageous only in the crazy world of identity politics would the attempt to reduce disability in small children be seen as a negative thing.

They disenfranchise large numbers of autistic people with their comments and shows why you can’t trust these so called advocacy groups that just try to build a dependency group for their own power and offer nothing to those they claim to represent

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ASPartOfMe
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25 Jul 2024, 10:08 am

carlos55 wrote:

Usually not a cure, but claims that a promising link or treatment has been found is made seemingly every day.

The idea sort of makes sense. What they did is instead of testing one treatment they used all the accepted treatments at once. Things that makes sense are not always right. Be that as it may, claiming you can “recover” people based on two people is quackery on steroids.

Last edited by ASPartOfMe on 25 Jul 2024, 10:54 am, edited 1 time in total.

notboston
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25 Jul 2024, 10:32 am

I do hope we do find a way to relieve symptoms in people.

I don’t think it’s great to see quack doctors, chiropractors, naturopaths prey on desperate people and call it “medicine”.

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