Lifting the Veil on Autism

Equipped with new findings — including feedback from people with autism — researchers are gaining a better grasp of autistic minds and how to treat them. Specialists and parents eagerly let us know of the challenges in tackling the confounding condition, but also expressed a degree of hope

The article on autism [May 29] by Claudia Wallis was very informative and helped correct many misconceptions about autistic children. In India, not much research on autism is under way. I fear that most of those children are taken to be mentally ill or retarded. The statistics on reported cases of autism in India may be not so grim as those in the U.S., but I feel the U.S. kids are in better hands. I just hope that researchers quickly find a solution. It was refreshing to read that helpful schools like Celebrate the Children are available to those special kids.
Subhobrata Basu
Calcutta

Congratulations to Time. I have been researching and teaching about autism for more than 30 years, and I believe that your article is one of the most accurate and useful to appear in the popular press. Autism is being rethought because of new insights from individuals with autism and the scientific community. Bravo for having made this new information accessible to the general public.
Anne M. Donnellan, Ph.D.
Professor, University of San Diego
San Diego

I particularly appreciated Wallis' reporting on the two autism intervention programs, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) and Floortime. The behaviorist method of ABA may still be the predominant approach, but Floortime's child-directed, playfully interactive techniques are also changing children's lives. My son attended a preschool using Floortime, and it made all the difference in the world. He blossomed there and is now a bright, sweet child in a mainstream elementary school and has an active social life. I hope Wallis' story helps parents who are still in the painful early stages of this journey.
Tamar Bihari
Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.

I was very disappointed by Time's reporting on ABA and the work of teachers and students at Alpine Learning Group. The most salient fact for parents facing the momentous choices regarding their child's treatment is that ABA is the only intervention for autism supported by peer-reviewed scientific studies. Properly implemented by well-trained therapists, ABA can help children with autism learn to talk, read, write, relate to their peers and participate fully and productively in their families and communities. ABA is a science, and as behavior analysts we at Alpine are accountable for every moment we spend with our students. Their days are filled not only with laughter and fun but also with meaningful learning opportunities aimed at reaching each student's full development. Time undersold the potential of ABA and the accomplishments of Alpine's phenomenal students, families and teachers.
Bridget A. Taylor, Psy.D., B.C.B.A.
Executive Director
Alpine Learning Group
Paramus, New Jersey, U.S.

I want to thank time for writing an unbiased review of Floortime and ABA. Too many articles prop up one approach over the other without giving an honest summary of both. I work within both models as a special-education teacher. Your article highlights the pros and cons of each in a fair, unbiased way. The goal is to choose what works for an individual child. Many, many children benefit from both models simultaneously or at different times in their childhood. Treatment is not a competition between ideas; it is a matter of finding what works at a particular moment with an individual child.
Kelly Crosby
Rochester, New York, U.S.

Individuals with autism possess a wealth of trapped talent and ability and need our help to share their riches with the world. It is important and comforting to realize that just as there is no one proven cause for autism, there is also no one foolproof treatment.
Shifra K. Leiser
Passaic, New Jersey, U.S.

Bravo for your reporting on autism and treatment options. I encounter many toddlers and young children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders. Explaining the diagnosis to parents causes them immediate confusion, panic and pain at the loss of the "normal child" they expected. Your article highlighted the Floortime approach. My colleagues and I are firm believers that for most children and families, it is the method that best enhances the bonding between child and parent, child and therapist, and eventually child and peers. The therapy is intense and long, but the developmental outcome is rewarding.
Ellen Reisel
Rishon LeZion, Israel

Your story gave a really helpful overview of the body of research on autism. I was pleasantly surprised to see Time recognize that studying how mercury in vaccines might affect the body is a legitimate route of inquiry. Your evenhanded comparison of the ABA and Floortime methods was in that same vein. When parents hear a diagnosis of autism, they might assume that their children will never get better. But they do.
Martin Bounds
Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.

Whatever the cause, autism is treatable, and more and more people will come to understand that treating the whole patient and not merely the symptoms will produce the best results. A good rehabilitation program will be a structured one that provides therapeutic stimulation to a nervous system that has failed to mature properly. Treatment should also include advice regarding diet, nutrition and lifestyle issues, including sleep and behavior. In this way, it may be possible to get the best results for children and adults who suffer from autism as well as many other neurological disabilities.
Basil Ziv, Executive Director
Association for the Neurologically Disabled of Canada
Etobicoke, Canada

"A tale of two schools" clarified the importance of treating the core deficits of children who suffer from autism: a lack of flexible thought and spontaneous communication, and lagging social and emotional development. It emphasized the role of emotion in learning, something that people have known for years and yet somehow tend to underestimate. In describing the philosophy behind ABA and Floortime, your report will help parents make a more informed decision.
Alisa Vig, Ph.D.
Clinical Psychologist
Jerusalem

You can read more of Claudia Wallis' reporting on treatments for autism at timearchive.com

A Region of Unrest
Your incisive account of the pathetic plight of the inhabitants of Nigeria's Niger Delta was noteworthy [May 22]. I am glad Time reported that the militants prowling the swamps and creeks of the delta have been armed by politicians, the same people responsible for the continued degradation and consequent state of abject poverty pervading the area. The deprivation in the region is a reflection of Nigeria's ailing socioeconomic realities as well as the greed and ineptitude of its political élite. Politicians in Nigeria wield too much power, often to the detriment of the people and the state. Why is it that the governors of the Niger Delta states, with increased revenue allocation from the central government, have done little for their people? The militia guns may someday be turned against the political élite. The 2007 elections are fast approaching.
Niran Adetoro
Ijebu-ode, Nigeria

While reading your report about Nigeria, I was wondering whom to blame. If Nigerians who live in Europe or the U.S. don't help their country, nothing will change. Oil companies will never stop exploiting their sources unless the U.N. puts an end to the catastrophe that Nigerians face.
Giannis Piliouras
Athens

time once again showed its mastery of in-depth and objective journalism in the story about the increasing insurgency in Nigeria's oil-rich delta region. I come from that troubled area — the goose that lays the golden egg of Nigeria's wealth — where successive Nigerian governments have otherwise shown little or no interest. The multinational oil companies have not helped by playing a massive role in environmental pollution and doing little to help residents of the delta. The international community, especially the U.S. and Britain, should do more so the world does not wake up to another Iraqi-style insurgency.
Henry Ilonah
Reading, England

Like Canaries in a Coal Mine
Ii was shocked to learn from "Bye bye Birdies" [May 22] that climate change may be killing migratory birds. I had no idea there was a link between declining bird populations and global warming. We should not forget that the death of even a single bird because of environmental factors can be linked to the fate of human beings, since we all depend on the health of our ecosystem.
Tadashi Kawabe
Fukuoka, Japan

Of Illness and Morality
time's interview with evangelist Franklin Graham [May 29] astonished me. He seems to believe that diseases such as cancer and leprosy are the result of "a sinful lifestyle." In Jesus' day, no one knew of the existence of bacteria and carcinogens, so many put the cause down to sinful behavior, but now we know better. To say illnesses are due to sin is ridiculous and degrading to those who suffer from them.
Sarah Jane Gilmour
East Lansing, Michigan, U.S.

How dare that self-righteous evangelist even hint that Jesus would heal people with AIDS and tell them, "Go and sin no more." I ask Graham, What sin did a newborn commit to come into this world with HIV? What sin did an unsuspecting person given a blood transfusion commit to get tainted blood? What sin did the thousands of Christian women whose breast cancer was diagnosed last year commit? Some may pat Graham on the back for lobbying President Bush to provide funding in the fight against AIDS. Graham's comments, however, were misguided, hurtful and unfair in implying that anyone with a disease has sinned in some way.
Elena Martin
Houston

Bush's Secret Spy Net
It doesn't matter whether the polls show that the American people do or do not support the NSA's monitoring of Americans' phone calls [May 22]. It matters only that such actions violate the Constitution, specifically the Fourth Amendment, which requires probable cause and warrants for such investigations. The Founding Fathers never said the Bill of Rights had to pass a popularity test in order to be enforced. The phones of suspected terrorists have been and should continue to be monitored — with court supervision. Without such oversight, the possibility for abuses of private information is very real.
Margery Winters
West Simsbury, Connecticut, U.S.

Ben Franklin is thought to have written, "Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." I am not willing to give up the constitutional freedoms that Americans have died to protect just because I have nothing to hide.
Jeff Morris
Saugerties, New York, U.S.

Even if the NSA and the president never abuse the power to invade the privacy of Americans, who can say that a future Administration will not abuse the power obtained through the precedent? History teaches that the dearly bought rights of individuals may be more easily lost than regained. Let us guard against future abuse by demanding respect for our privacy now.
Robert E. Mann
Chandler, Arizona, U.S.

The NSA program is long overdue. it should have been implemented after the initial truck-bomb attack on the World Trade Center. Had we been connecting the dots in that way all along, 9/11 might never have happened.
Michael Patmas
West Linn, Oregon, U.S.

In Defense of the Dems
Klein pointed out [May 22] the ugly political ploys the g.o.p. has used to get power, and he anticipated Republicans playing the race card in the November elections. Then he basically justified their tactics. I wish Klein were more appalled by what right-wing extremists who are in control of the government are doing than by what Democrats might do if they win control of the House.
Willard Taylor
Upper Marlboro, Maryland, U.S.

Klein noted that Conyers could become chairman of the Judiciary Committee and that he has threatened impeachment hearings against President Bush. Klein said that would be a case of Democrats' "emphasizing witch hunts instead of substantive policies." Impeachment might be incendiary, but it is important and necessary to discuss and explore. Impartial and thorough Senate and House investigations need to be conducted to bring to light the massive corruption of Bush and his Administration.
William Warner
Portland, Oregon, U.S.