Can Early Warnings Help Treat Autism?

Parents of children with autism and experts in the field responded en masse to our Feb. 28 story. One mother wrote poignantly of the "autistic fog" enveloping her son, while another related how her child "is my greatest joy as well as my most devastating heartbreak." Many pointed to possible chemical, environmental and genetic factors, and cited a variety of therapies that have helped them. One man offered hope: "The extent to which medicine and education can work together will determine the best course." The mother of a 55-year-old from "the first generation of autistic children" hailed her son for earning a college degree, holding down a computer-programming job and recently moving into his own apartment. "He has made this enormous progress in the decades when there were no facilities to help him." A girl with Asperger's asked for understanding: "I am autistic. I don't want a cure. I want people to accept that I'm different, not diseased."

As the mother of a precious 6-year-old boy with autism, I would like to say thank you a thousand times over for the coverage you have given over the years to this devastating disorder, including your recent cover story ("Babies and Autism," Feb. 28). As parents of an autistic child (and three other "normal" children), we sometimes get bogged down in the day-to-day of school, therapy, etc., and it is so nice to know that we are getting help raising awareness about autism. The more people know, the more people can help find a new treatment or cure, or even just understand my son's condition when they pass him on the street. Keep up the great work and thank you again.
Mistie Huff
Iowa Park, Texas

I never knew how sad I could possibly feel or how strong I could become until my two young sons were diagnosed with autism. It is hard to explain how it feels when your only two children slip away into a mysterious world where language and development completely regress. The anguish of looking your baby son in the eye when he doesn't see you is so profound that tears cannot take away the pain. The screaming silence of autism sometimes echoes so loudly in my house that it deafens me. Other times the incredible tantrums seem to shatter my patience and break my heart. How can anyone understand how it feels when your son doesn't call you "mama" anymore and doesn't respond to his own name? Sadly, I am not alone. I never thought autism would affect my family. Will yours be next? Let's support funding for autism research and cure this epidemic.
Jeanine Ryan-Frandsen
Phoenix, Ariz.

I want to thank Claudia Kalb and NEWSWEEK for your coverage of autism. As the father of three autistic sons, all under the age of 6, I believe it's important that the world understand that autism is an epidemic. Probably few of your readers walked away thinking this terrible disease will have an impact on them. Families with autistic children become overwhelmed both physically and financially, and have very little energy to educate and spread the word. I would like to express my gratitude to Suzanne and Bob Wright and their family for being public about their grandson's diagnosis ("Willing the World to Listen"). Even though autism does not have social or economic boundaries, few influential families have publicly come out. What the Wright family has done is monumental for the war on autism.
Marc A. Augier
Chagrin Falls, Ohio

I applaud your coverage of autism. I wish it had come out 11 years ago when our now 14-year-old son was diagnosed. Talk about wacky therapy. I think we tried most of it. You will attempt almost anything if you think it will work even a little. We tried using Secretin (a hormone from a pig's pancreas), retraining the hairs in the ear so that he was less sensitive to sound, Interactive Metronome therapy and five to 10 other things that were promised to have an impact. My advice is: stick to the speech therapy, occupational therapy, drugs that help and all the play therapy you can afford. Maybe the most important is to have your child around typical kids as much as possible. Perhaps our son's most effective therapy was having a sister five years younger who would not let him obsess or stay in his own world. He has come a long way, but our battles are ongoing, as we have to constantly remind people of all he can do and to look past his quirkiness. I share my commiseration with the Wrights and their daughter, and I thank NEWSWEEK for helping to bring awareness to autism.
Therese Wantuch
Mason, Ohio

As a pediatric psychologist, I have worked with many autistic children. My practice has always been nontraditional in that I see children in the natural environment. I talk with parents in their home, work with the children in the home, school, community, etc. I was surprised to read that "one of the newest [treatments] on the block [is] Relationship Development Intervention, or RDI." I have used similar methods for the past 15 years. and I could never interest anyone else to practice this way. To work in the environment means you have to travel around instead of sit in an office. This, in turn, means fewer patients per day and, unfortunately, places some limitations on billable time. On the positive side, I have a very real-world view of these children, their families and the problems they are dealing with. I believe this has led to much more effective treatment plans. Additionally, since I am frequently in the schools, I am able to work with the teachers and staff, and advocate for the children at Individual Education Programs that are more collaborative. I am glad to hear that the rest of the world has "discovered" this "new" treatment approach.
Andrea Aucoin
Studio City, Calif.

If the Bush administration really wants "No Child Left Behind," it will force the insurance industry to stop discriminating against children. As a mother of two children with learning disabilities on the Autism Spectrum, I could fill a congressional hearing room with just the parents I know who've had their speech-, occupational- and physical-therapy claims denied by their insurance company because benefits apply only to stroke or accident victims and the elderly. Without these therapies, kids with developmental disabilities simply can't catch up to their peers, and at $90 to $150 an hour, many parents can't afford necessary therapy without insurance.
Maureen Mulqueeny Larson
Rockville, Md.

After reading your article on autism, I decided that it was time to watch "the tape"--a video I shot of my then 21/2-year-old son during the weekend that my husband and I realized he was autistic. We barely remember the child in the video. That child engaged in repetitive, inane behaviors, threw uncontrollable tantrums, spoke gibberish and was completely unaware of the world around him. That was last May. Today our son is a happy, loving child who is beginning to speak in four- to five-word sentences, understands emotion, responds to his name and does what he is told. He currently attends a state-funded school for children with developmental delays, and his teachers and therapists all agree that he should attend regular preschool in the fall. Imagine my dismay when I read your article and saw little about the benefits of a gluten-free or casein-free diet, supplements and the removal of heavy metals. These are the things that are bringing our child back to us. In the nine months that we have known about our son's autism, we have aggressively fought back with the help of the Defeat Autism Now network. There are many, many formerly autistic children out there. Ours will be one soon.
Jenny and Jim DeMaria
Novato, Calif.

As a professor of special education and a parent of a child with Asperger syndrome, I think it is important for readers to understand how far we've come in so short a time. While we still are unsure about the specific causes of the wide range of Autistic Spectrum Disorders, the increase in the number of individuals diagnosed is due in large part to a broader definition, enhanced awareness and expanded early-identification efforts. Although having a parent who happens to have a Ph.D. in special education, my son was not identified with Asperger syndrome until the age of 15 (he is 22 now). Despite my supposed access to information, my family struggled and suffered until a correct diagnosis was finally made. If you have a relatively high-functioning child, a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome or Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) will be more difficult to make and will almost certainly occur at a later age than that of youngsters with classic autism. Also, families should beware of bandwagon treatments such as facilitated communication, which do little but break the hearts of parents. Knowledge is incremental, and as desperate as one's situation may be (I've been there), common sense, love, patience and advocacy remain the best approach.
Stephen Safran
Ohio University, College of Education
Athens, Ohio

How ironic that in the same issue on autism, you include a story on HIV and the increase of drug use and unprotected sex in the gay community ("Party, Play--And Pay"). This preventable and now mostly manageable illness receives $6 billion in federal funds for research each year. Autism, which now affects 1.7 million people, receives $99 million. Where is the outrage from taxpayers who will eventually foot the bill to care for these individuals when the families can no longer do so? My son's future would be much brighter if he had AIDS.
Alison Bucci
Winnetka, Ill.

HIV and Crystal Meth

Public-health officials, gay and HIV/AIDS organizations have failed to respond effectively to the convergence of the crystal-meth epidemic and HIV ("Party, Play--And Pay"). Frustrated by a lack of local leadership, we raised more than $80,000 from private donors (including gay bars) to launch one of the first crystal-meth and HIV-education campaigns targeting gay and bisexual men. After we exhausted our private funds, the campaign ended. We hope the latest wave of media attention will generate new leadership and resources before another generation must confront life with HIV.
Steven B. Johnson
Health Policy Consultant
David Contois, Chair
San Diego HIV Funding Collaborative
San Diego, Calif.

Your article "Party, Play--And Pay" made me wonder what the world is coming to. The descriptions made me cringe, and the statistics made me gasp. But none of the words in the article affected me as much as when 45-year-old Hans Kindt--who recently lost his job and home, and contracted HIV due to his crystal-meth addiction--stated, "Had there been a candid, clear, honest discussion about the drug and its dangers--not the hysteria we are prone to in this country--then I think I would have listened." So Kindt means to tell us that he didn't know that snorting or smoking or shooting up meth, and sleeping with random, unprotected men was a bad thing, but if someone had sat him down and calmly explained to him that it wasn't a wise choice, he would have listened? I don't buy it. Kindt has no one to blame but himself.
Jenna Kennedy
New Auburn, Wis.

'Spiritual Grace Under Pressure'

Thanks for " 'Precious' Suffering" (Feb. 28), an impressive and overdue tribute to Pope John Paul II and to his inspiring spiritual grace under pressure. As your article makes clear, history does not offer much help in the matter of a pope's resignation. A compos sui pope, however, could see to it that the church is spared a preventable historical emergency. A related question, however, must be considered. Cardinals, if they are 80 or older, are legally deemed unfit, only because of age, to elect a new pope. A fortiori, it could be legally decreed that a person may no longer serve as pope once he reaches the age of 80. A papal election could, in that case, be a scheduled event properly announced and prepared. During my four years at the Vatican I was privileged to enjoy the friendship of a number of cardinals who had decided never to join their eminent confreres at papal functions in St. Peter's Basilica as their personal protest against the decree that made them incapable of being conclave participants because of their age. It's an easier task to elect a pope than to be a pope.
Fr. Larry N. Lorenzoni, SDB
Salesian Provincial Office
San Francisco, Calif.

As a lifelong Roman Catholic, I am deeply troubled by the way Pope John Paul II speaks so disparagingly of the option of resignation now that he is finding it more and more painfully difficult to govern. It's true that martyrdom and identification with the sufferings of Christ is always an option for a Christian--but it's God's part, not our own, to bring ourselves to that extremity. With at least nine popes in history who have chosen the option of resignation--at least one of whom has been declared a saint--is it not a bit presumptuous to regard stepping down from the papal throne as tantamount to Christ's coming down from the cross? No one--not even the pope--is that indispensable.
Joel Brence
Aspen, Colo.

Judicial Overreach

George Will decries "the decay of democratic sensibilities" resulting from the dictates of "unelected, unaccountable and inexpert" judges, but New York State Supreme Court judges, including Judge Leland DeGrasse, are popularly elected to their offices--and must run for re-election ("Judges and 'Soft Rights'," Feb. 28). This process concerns New Yorkers and others because of the perceived corrupting influence of elections on judges. To address this, New York's top judge recently created the Commission to Promote Public Confidence in Judicial Elections to find ways to reaffirm the public's trust in the state judicial system. More troubling, however, is Will's encouragement for those in the executive branch of government to ignore judicial decisions with which they disagree. When the decisions of our judiciary are binding only when convenient, our system of government--one based on the separation of powers between the branches--is in jeopardy.
Dan Scripps
Ann Arbor, Mich.

Readers should know that the case that sparked President Andrew Jackson's purported remark "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it" (a case summarized by Will as "a decision favoring two imprisoned missionaries") was Worcester v. Georgia, which ultimately led the Cherokees to the Trail of Tears. The court found that only the federal government had jurisdiction over Native Americans. Jackson failed to enforce the decision, and Georgia forced the Cherokees out. That instance aside, Will's arguments throughout are specious, if not seditious. One of the cornerstones of the democracy he claims to be defending is judicial independence. Those who dislike the courts' implementation of the laws have the option of changing the laws. The suggestion that we follow Jackson and simply flout the ones we don't like raises some interesting questions. Who decides which we ignore? Do we all have to ignore the same one(s), or can we each choose for ourselves?
Lela Stromenger
Tempe, Ariz.

New York State's governor and legislative leaders have variously described the state's system for funding public education as a "dinosaur" and dysfunctional. The state's highest court, as well as the lower- court judge George Will castigates, have merely confirmed those judgments. If the governor and legislature are truly affronted by an unfair finance system, they should fix it. Yet for nearly two years, they have done nothing. Given the choice between inaction by the "right" branches of government and action by the "wrong" branch of government, most New Yorkers, if not George Will, prefer action.
Timothy G. Kremer, Executive Director
New York State School Boards Association
Latham, N.Y.

Shooting the Messenger?

Jonathan Alter correctly contends that journalists must have the privilege of protecting sources who leak information critical to the transparency needed by a functioning democracy ("Your Right to Know Is at Stake," Feb. 28). However, this privilege should not extend to protecting sources who leak information for the sole purpose of discouraging dissent. Exposing Valerie Plame as an undercover CIA agent didn't give the public useful information. To the contrary, destroying her career was punishment for her husband's exposing a presidential lie. Protecting such a source suppresses the flow of vital information to the public. Trying to extend the reporter's privilege to such unconscionable cases may, in the long run, weaken its defense.
John Alexander
Old Town, Maine

Corrections

In "When Does Autism Start?" we misidentified the children in two photos. The brother and sister on page 46 are Will Hurty, 9, and Sarah Hurty, 4, not William and Hannah Marquis. The boy on page 52 is Tyler Klein, not Jason Klein.

On our March 7 cover ("Martha's Last Laugh"), the head shot of Martha Stewart on the photo illustration was credited to Marc Bryan-Brown--WireImage. It should have been credited to Ron Galella--WireImage. NEWSWEEK regrets the errors.