'Extremely offensive': Controversial autism treatment angers scientific community

A team of experts has criticised a new study that claims severe autism in children can be "improved and reversed" with a controversial behavioural therapy.

The study focused on a pair of twin girls from the United States, whose severe autism required "very significant support" at 20 months of age.

The research team said that the symptoms of the disease decreased significantly, to an indistinguishable level in one of them, after a two-year program of controversial interventions.

The program included applied behavior analysis (ABA), which aims to teach children with autism how to behave in “appropriate” ways. It also provided a gluten-free, low-sugar diet, and a number of nutritional supplements, including omega-3 fatty acids, multivitamins, and vitamin D.

But experts say the study does not meet accepted standards.

“These are not evidence-based medical interventions,” said Dr Rosa Hoekstra, a leading expert in neurodevelopmental disorders at King’s College London.

She explained that the very small sample size (only two girls from the same family) means that the results cannot be generalized to other children.

The study, published in the little-known journal Personalized Medicine, relied on anecdotal reports and information from parents only, rather than independent observations or assessments.

The parents were fully aware of and participated in the medical interventions, so their reports may have been biased.

“If you invest a lot of money and an incredible amount of time in these interventions, it’s natural to hope to see results, and you’re likely to imagine any improvement you see as a successful outcome,” Hoekstra said. “Autism is a set of personality traits, and certain interventions can really help children or adults, and make them feel good. But that doesn’t mean their personality or their being has fundamentally changed.”

Tim Nicholls, assistant director of the National Autistic Society, said the study was "deeply offensive" to the more than 700,000 people with autism in the UK.

“We are absolutely baffled as to why this is being published in the British press. There are absolutely no conclusions to be drawn from the study, and to suggest otherwise is irresponsible. Autism cannot be ‘cured’ or ‘reversed’. Imagine seeing headlines suggesting that a fundamental part of your identity can be ‘reversed’.”

Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is highly controversial because it attempts to "train" children with autism to fit the criteria of the neurotypical model.

The National Autistic Society says there are significant limitations and gaps in the study of ABA, especially regarding long-term effects.