By now, I am sure most of you have heard of the 'Horse Boy' (That's a link to the website). The story is simple. Boy is 'autistic'. Father is overwhelmed by treatment options. Boy gets on horse and talks!!! Father takes boy to Mongolia to be with horses and shamans and boy improves fairly dramatically. I love these types of stories and fear them...I love them because they reinforce my belief that each child is unique and that only be spending time with them and 'listening' to them can we really reach them. (I can hear my behaviorist colleagues howling already;)...on the other hand, I fear parents suspending treatments that are proven and efficacious and rushing off to Mongolia...I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Here is a wonderfully diverse series of response to 'The Horse Boy' printed up in the NY Times.
Temple Grandin: "I have had a number of parents tell me that when their child was in a therapeutic riding program, their child spoke their first words. It’s rhythm and balance. These activities are really good for the autistic brain."
Simon-Baron Cohen: "Children often do develop in leaps and bounds rather than having some kind of steady, linear increase, and that’s true for any child — for typically developing children as well as children with a disability. Sometimes it is a change in environment or usual surroundings or input."
Paul Offit: "Obviously these are anecdotal experiences without a control group. The natural history of mild to moderate autism is that it does get better over time. You’re worse between 2 and 5, and you tend to get better between 5 and 10. You mature, and you get better. If you take a child who is screaming uncontrollably and put them in a car, they calm down."
adam
