As the autism epidemic has grown, so too, has the knowledge of professionals who shepherd treatment, and our recognition of success. It is helpful to offer predictive signs that reflect steady improvement. Due to the variations in autism presentation, there is no authoritative information about how long recovery takes.

However, it can be quite useful and encouraging for a parent to know that it is great news when a child who, after 9 months of treatment, is finally repeating words. It is just as important to understand that the lack of questions, or comprehension, is not pertinent at such a stage.

Patience is key – all affected families have already learned that virtue. But proper acknowledgement that the chid IS getting better should reassure families, hopefully adding a touch more perseverance to their storehouse of solutions.

The journey begins as the ‘fog’ lifts. Wandering should become exploration. New diagnoses do not suddenly ensue, they rise to the top of parental concerns.

It’s not apraxia AND autism. The lack of verbal communication ought to define that phase of autism. Speech arises as sounds, often verbal tics or ‘stims’, teeth-grinding, or screeching, progresses to occasional single words, more consistency, then more dependable expression.

At first, merely hearing the speech therapist say that your child is trying is a very positive sign. There is a pattern. Speak to yourself. Speak to toys. Speak to family. Sometimes, it make sense. Juice. Want juice. I want juice. Observe other children. Speak to safe children – older, younger, more docile. Sometimes, inappropriate.

The same arrangement can emerge with shorter, then longer, sentences. During this phase, parents may fear that the child doesn’t doesn’t comprehend, or is lazy. “He can do it if he wants to!” I think of it as paving newer, progressively wider, neural roadways. The quantum leaps in the appearance of knowledge, such as letters or numbers, are a result of the newfound ability to perform expressive language.

Repetition of words or phrases (echolalia, scripting) seems to be part of the fabric of the acquisition of this ‘skill’. If a child is supposed to say 1000 terms, e.g., and only has 300, they may say the same thing 3 times just to make up the difference, or repeat the last words that were spoken. (Neurotypical adults often do this, as well.)

Socialization will rarely ensue if these milestones, in some form, haven’t appeared.

Children who have repetitive behaviors and restricted interests do not develop obsessive-compulsive disorder. Yes, a youngster may appear to have OCD, but it’s the same problem they exhibited at 2 years of age. And, no pediatrician called it OCD back then. Furthermore, adult drugs for this ‘condition’ are dangerous and rarely perform as expected.

Sensory processing issues that involve hearing, vision, etc., do not develop into SPD. They may become highlighted at various points in the child’s recovery process as the cause of distraction or aggression. Stimming is frequently a symptom. Occupational therapy and other appropriate neural interventions can be quite helpful.

Likewise, lack of attention and focus, overactivity, and distractibility aren’t really a newly acquired ADHD diagnosis. This represents the remnants of an earlier autism. Signs and symptoms are only as subject to pharmacologic remedy as the resulting, appropriate anxiety.

Proper recognition of the challenging behaviors is key.
Does anyone know of a drug that would enable a 5 year-old to perform in a 2nd grade classroom?

Immaturity, tantrums, and difficult transitioning do not warrant a separate condition. Oppositional Defiance Disorder is a description. Behavioral interventions have proven value.

Conclusion
Some might be confused by my use of the word ‘recovery’. It depends on the definition. Subject to the age at the initiation of therapies (and a million other factors), The Child Development Center generally aims for a 3-to-6 year window, in order for a ‘typical’ patient to enter the general educational environment. There may be plenty of leftover challenging behaviors, as occurs in many of the other students in this century.

My point-of-view is that, 10 years after a crippling auto accident, the appearance of normalcy doesn’t erase the prior event. Five years following, however, the patient may experience muscle weakness and/or ‘pins and needles’. Such is the state-of-being for many of the children experiencing recovery in Autism Spectrum Disorder.

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