Can you RECOVER from Autism?

Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh, founder/CEO of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders, renowned clinical psychologist, and Autism researcher, gives her evidenced-based opinion on whether recovery from Autism is possible.

[juliadixon]

I can't " recover" from Asperger's because I didn't just contract it out of the blue-- I was born with it, in the sixties, and every experience I have had since has been colored by it in at least one way. I would gladly accept some miracle treatment that would render me just a high strung, wordy bright normal older woman, because I hate this shit. It has been nothing but misery.

[sarahissa]

Dr. Doreen is awesome. I just wish her employees at Card are like her

[simplymelaurad]

Dr. Doreen is awesome! You almost made me cry! This is what I've been trying to tell my IEP team for the longest time. Yes, Shanon Please do more segments on recovery! !!!

[lassusprophetam]

Can a psychiatrist or a psychologist cure a pandemic "no" it's ridiculous. They're wasting the parents precious time and whatever is causing the problem is not getting treatment because they are wasting the parents time. It's okay to do learning exercises but there has to be treatment for the causal problem.

[grumpyinbrooklyn]

I find the computer analogy quite fitting, although I choose Windows for NT and Linux for autistic when I use it. In my own experience, my coping mechanisms included installing (learning) this other operating system (Windows) run on a virtual machine on top of my native Linux. It runs the software, BUT it does have a cost, it's computationally expensive, or intensive. By all means believe in the potential for kids on the spectrum to grow and achieve great things, in many cases amazing things. But recovery is a poor choice of words, a simulation even if running at 100% compatibility, is still a simulation.

[jeffreyelya]

I'm about five years late on my comment ;-) There are guys, in a similar fashion, and I know they're out there, like me, who spend years w/o proper therapy who get help, but end up with a plateau once they get to a certain point. You either feel ignored by friends and family, or you stick out like a sore thumb, because you're not getting anywhere in your developmental skills. The hardest part of this kind of an autistic guy is that people can, and they will walk over you, if you don't stand up for yourself.
This is worth bringing up, because the description I just gave very much mirrors the bulk of my life so far. As an adult, it's extremely frustrating. I am currently switching counselors, but not for the reasons listed, but because I can get charge free counseling from the church I've been going to. My prayer life has changed significantly since the beginning of the year, (2023) but yes, I believe in recovery, but the biggest challenge right now is interacting with the social functions because my counselor told me that I need to think about finding a girlfriend. Five to ten years ago, I would've freaked out over this challenge, but thankfully this is something I've been working

[a.herrera]

My son is about 90% recovered!!! Biomed/homeopathy & therapy! God is good! Dr. Doreen, you’re a gift from God, THANK YOU ❤️ Thank you for spreading hope & thank you for spreading TRUTH! God bless you in abundance.

[rosieacosta]

We had CARD services for my 3 year old for over a year and the therapist were not very good we left after about over a year with out seeing a any improvement.

[Neilgs]

Sorry my Dear Doreen, the seminal 1987 study proved to be entirely flawed. There was NOT a "47% recovery." Subsequently, when Tristram Smith did a replicated a similar corrective trial, MEANING a fully blind randomized control study. believe 2001 with proper assignment to treatment and control groups among other factors, that was revised downward, as it evinced a "13% recovery." More significantly, however, and I am a therapist in the field for 18 years, is that many children are misdiagnosed to begin with. For example, constitutional factors such as affect sensory modulation processing differences across various domains where the severity of a moderate diagnosis of ASD, let alone in many, cases an ASD diagnosis warranted at all or shall we say is poorly misunderstood to begin, and used with such a broad brush as to lose all meaning, as the majority of clinicians continue to egregiously fail to look at a more granular level. Also, there is no such thing as "typical." We are beginning to think in the field in terms of human neurodiversity rather than a single standard of what "normal" or "typical" looks like. Having said that we still of course address challenges that inhibit or interfere daily social-emotional communicating and relating - from the perspective of that individual.

When we begin to look from a polyvagal and bio-psycho-social perspective (e.g., interpersonal neurobiology and a Relationship based approach) we begin to evince a much more heterogeneous neurodiversified picture of each individual child and their individual strengths and challenges along with stressors, anxieties, endocrine factors, that constitutes a larger and more correct developmental understanding of social-emotional engagement. It is, in fact, social-emotional (affective) engagement and or the inhibitory stress factors of fight, flight or immobilization/shut down responses that determines EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. It is warm pleasurable social emotional engagement around the child's natural affective processes rather than training a child's dopamine system (i.e., "replacement behaviors") to more adapatively "functionally script" that represents the clinically significant and clinically meaningful foundation for more complex ideation and social-pragmatic language.

The great misnomer and egregious claims of ABA methodologies of "successful recovery rates" is brilliantly distorted, as its paradigm fails to address (or inadequately addresses) the core challenges associated with ASD which includes spontaneous and Integrated relating, thinking and communicating. Furthermore, I have seen over many years ABA methodologies regress (or otherwise consistently inhibit a greater breadth) of a child's overall Functional-Emotional Developmental capacities. The reason why ABA methodologies can appear to the unsuspected as so smashingly successful (and this is not talked about one-tenth as much it should) is because of a little word called, "neuroplasticity." To train a child's dopamine system to respond with what appears as more "adaptive functioning" and improved "executive functioning" through the majority of ABA methodologies is to train the child's surface behaviors to acquiesce to new "functionally scripted adaptive response-behaviors" and leave unaddressed or blithely inadequately addressed, the underlying core challenges of authentic spontaneous nuanced back and forth social-pragmatic language (e.g., affect facial processing subtle cues, prosodic elements of vocalization/speech which comprises 93% of language).

[deeinchina]

thank you so much Dr Doreen.so informative.God bless you for giving us hope as parents dealing with autism.

[LilyLekula]

Morning I'm desperately in need of recovery centre in S.A especially Johannesburg area

[onlythetruth]

So. What does your intense therapy entail?
That is what's of most importance here.
Whst aspect of your therapy was most beneficial and how does one access this programme?

[indervirhundal]

Stem cell, Giostar, advancells and swiss medica seem real?

[judicialservicesplatform]

Yes your words are magic and InshaAllah I will soon experience this magic with my kid

[Your-Boi-Shane]

It’s so hard to find good ABA therapists- 😢

[judicialservicesplatform]

May God bless you both. I cried aloud watching you saying those words with so much conviction. It was as though God came up to me with a suggestion. I am from India and am working as a judicial magistrate. I have one year of child care leave to account. There are no professionals here that can offer 40 hrs of therapy. And if they do it will be double my salary. Please tell me can I learn ABA online by myself. Please do reply.

[Emanu]

Can you bring your son pls Dr Doreen 🙏

[shahidahmed]

IMO Some can recover it really depends on your needs and ability

[twunt]

You don't recover for it you adapt to it

[taniagallardo]

Amazing! Thank you for sharing with us.