12-21-2004, 09:04 PM
http://www.wqad.com/Global/story.asp?S=2706612
The most recent statistics show as many as one in 200 children have a condition that falls under the coategory of autism.
There are many drugs for the behavioral symptoms.
But new research shows you may not need them, instead a drug-free treatment can change lives.
When you see 5-year-old Sarah Beard today, you'd never guess what she was like a year ago.
Her life was filled with tantrums... screaming and kicking ...and rituals -- methodically lining up toys and spinnng in circles. She'd scream at her own birthday parties if anyone sang "happy birthday". Today, that Sarah is hard to find.
"Myself is something who is the personality, and I am a special person of 'anality," says Sarah.
Sarah was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome -- an Autism specturm disorder -- at two. Mom Colleen says that early diagnosis changed her little girl.
"The amount of progress she has made -- she's a different girl today than she was 14-months ago," says Colleen.
Autism expert Catherine Lord, Ph.D., says early diagnosis leads to life-changing interventions.
"It's been truly wonderful to see how many things people with autism can do and things that we would not have probably dreamed about 20-or-30 years ago," says Dr. Lord.
Therapy focuses on completion of tasks and social interaction. Experts believed half of autistic kids would never speak. With early intervention, Dr. Lord found only 14-percent won't.
"It's not what you have done in a day -- but what you know -- it leads into something that is really going to change children's lives," says Dr. Lord.
Sarah remembers how she used to behave...
"It feels like I screamed a lot."
But doesn't dwell on it.
"No, I'm not afraid anymore."
And this year, she even let her family sing her "Happy Birthday."
Doctors used to believe Autism could not be accurately diagnosed until the child was four or five years old.
Dr. Lord's research chosed children can be reliably diagnosed by age two -- and says that's the key to successful treatment.
Since autistic behaviors vary, the intervention is targeted to each specific child to help them overcome their own obstacles.
The most recent statistics show as many as one in 200 children have a condition that falls under the coategory of autism.
There are many drugs for the behavioral symptoms.
But new research shows you may not need them, instead a drug-free treatment can change lives.
When you see 5-year-old Sarah Beard today, you'd never guess what she was like a year ago.
Her life was filled with tantrums... screaming and kicking ...and rituals -- methodically lining up toys and spinnng in circles. She'd scream at her own birthday parties if anyone sang "happy birthday". Today, that Sarah is hard to find.
"Myself is something who is the personality, and I am a special person of 'anality," says Sarah.
Sarah was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome -- an Autism specturm disorder -- at two. Mom Colleen says that early diagnosis changed her little girl.
"The amount of progress she has made -- she's a different girl today than she was 14-months ago," says Colleen.
Autism expert Catherine Lord, Ph.D., says early diagnosis leads to life-changing interventions.
"It's been truly wonderful to see how many things people with autism can do and things that we would not have probably dreamed about 20-or-30 years ago," says Dr. Lord.
Therapy focuses on completion of tasks and social interaction. Experts believed half of autistic kids would never speak. With early intervention, Dr. Lord found only 14-percent won't.
"It's not what you have done in a day -- but what you know -- it leads into something that is really going to change children's lives," says Dr. Lord.
Sarah remembers how she used to behave...
"It feels like I screamed a lot."
But doesn't dwell on it.
"No, I'm not afraid anymore."
And this year, she even let her family sing her "Happy Birthday."
Doctors used to believe Autism could not be accurately diagnosed until the child was four or five years old.
Dr. Lord's research chosed children can be reliably diagnosed by age two -- and says that's the key to successful treatment.
Since autistic behaviors vary, the intervention is targeted to each specific child to help them overcome their own obstacles.