Why is autism so difficult to treat and what forms of therapy work best?

Answer 1

They don't know what causes it so therefore how do you treat it. And the best treatment is behavioral.

Answer 2

Do you know that some suspect Bill Gates is autistic? And yet my niece is autistic & can't even say or write her own name at age 10!

How do you come up with a "treatment" that covers such a broad spectrum? How do you determine which one is best?

Most people think ABA (Applied Behavioural Analysis) is the best for kids with little or no verbal skills. That hasn't worked as well with my niece. Every child is different.

Many on the higher ends of the spectrum (verbal & intelligent) object to the notion that they need to be "cured." They refer to us as "neuro-typicals" & some seem to think WE are the ones with the problem.

For my niece, I bought some "talking" photo albums from Radio Shack & put picture cards in the photo slots. I recorded for each slot the word & discription of the item (singing if poss.) "Tomatoes - Tomatoes. You love to eat tomatoes, Tomatoes are red. Tomatoes." She punches the buttons & tries to repeat some of the words. She thinks it is a game & enjoys it very much. Her vocabulary has increased dramatically since I made these talking books for her.