According to researchers; Autism can be treated in the future.

[King_Oni]

So apparently there have been some talks about dutch university's getting funding on "treatment" for autism. It's in it's early stages, and is said to revert some neurological "damage". Link to the article below; I'll translate it for the other 99,9% on the board

Autism can be treated in the future. At least, that's what neurologists at UMC (University Medical Centre) Nijmegen and UMC Utrecht, both in The Netherlands, expect. They have received 1,5 million euro (1,8 million USD) to fund research on autism.

The total researchfunding is about 30 million euro (36 million USD). Participating in this research are 20 university's and 6 pharmaceutical companies all based in Europe. It's the biggest amount of funding ever spent in one go for research on autism.

Based on previous research, researchers think that developmental disorders of people with autism can be revereted partially. Currently there is a fieldtest with a new form of medication, which should improve behaviour of people with autism. Researchers however stress that it'll take at least "another 10 years" before the disorder can be treated.

Autism is a severe lifelong developmental disorder that's incurable. Approximately 1 percent of the kids is diagnosed with autism.

Well, to be honest, it's a short and ****** article. But hey... that's dutch media. Seems people can't keep their attention any longer than this.

Anyway, just thought I'd share it with you all

Source: (The article is in dutch)
Article from "de Volkskrant"

 

[Droopy]

researchers think that developmental disorders of people with autism can be revereted partially.

This is the bit that I am most interested in. It appears that they are trying to reduce/remove some of the traits rather than "cure" the whole thing entirely. Given the scale of this research, it will be interesting to see what they come up with.

 

[Geordie]

The moment I know I can be treated for autism, I'd immediately leap forward and volunteer to be one of the first to be cured of my autism.

Too bad, damage has been done. I may still need to do another degree, I may need to be stressed by over-extension of my energy, which I may not realise it, and I may lose the joy of doing some things NTs do for granted.

 

[King_Oni]

Reading a bit into a thread about it on a dutch forum, it seems there's some pro's and con's people expect. Of course, we don't know for sure how it's gonna pan out. I believe I once expressed this in another thread on this board, or as a reply on a blog somewhere.

I always feel that reverting it's "damage" can work like a charm for kids. They can have proper guidance, support and stuff like that to eventually "make" something of their future.

But what about adults? They have experiences, memories, routines, and maybe as such no formal training by means of employment. Or any proper education. So unless it's not being all black and white, I could see that this might work. But even then, having meds, might require a lot of support to get them integrated into society, even IF medication would help.

And what about comorbid disorders. What if I'm not social because of my autism, but if I'm taking that out of the equation, I'm still not comfy around people, just as a "personality trait". Do we acknowledge that as a disorder then? I can see meds taking away a bit of the issues, but I doubt it's gonna create fully functional human beings if they weren't functional at some point. And surely not without proper support.

Also; yes, there's a fair share of sensory issues that are related to autism, sure, take those away. Still that does not make me social person, nor someone who will enjoy things in life more. If I have an interest in things that people think are "negative" or "dark", I'll still like those.

So to be honest, I think there's a shitload of support and therapy coming up if people want to be treated and actually crave an NT life. I mean, if you're an aspie and you're bummed out because you want to be social but you feel held back cause of your asperger's.. by all means, go ahead. But if you don't crave NT things to start with, that's where the problem lies a lot deeper I think.

 

[deathgrip]

This smells like another inane waste of money to me.
Really sorry to sound negetive.
My autism isnt some personality trait. it effects how i see light, how i smell scents and my hearing. i wont go into all the details. I dont have a need to be able to go to a loud stinky bar and be social.
So if they could "cure" my over sensory challanges, that would be a far off miracle.
As amazing as it sounds to nt parents, it looks like another bs cure article to me, and the experts never seem to understand everything about how autism actually works.

 

[epath13]

I think people mistake treatment for elimination. I'm sure a lot of people in the future would be able to deal with some symptoms better or have a chance for more suitable education. If an individual is totally fine with their personality, behaviours, employment situation, ability to learn etc they don't need treatment. But if there's a conflict, why shouldn't you seek treatment? Let's not forget many people with Autism have difficulties with expressive language, language comprehension, learning. Addressing those difficulties is what treatment is. Some therapists, parents or whoever may be very quick to jump to conclusion that Autism can be eliminated with treatment. But many specialists who understand nature of Autism a little better (regardless of lack of information in general) know that treatment is not elimination but support to make sure that an individual can be as independent and as able to draw from his/her potential as possible. That's the goal of treatment of any neurological condition or mental illness.