Cure for autism - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

Xiangsu · 04-06-2005, 09:49 PM

I was in Wal-mart the other day and saw a copy of National Geographic, on the cover was something about the science of the brain. I started reading and found the most peculiar article:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/...in536416.shtml

Tito Mukhopadhyay is challenging every assumption about autism, turning the world of Portia and Jon, and thousands of other parents like them, upside down.

Like Dov, he's severely autistic. He, too, is almost mute and has little control over his body.

But unlike Dov, and thousands of other autistic children, Tito is doing what doctors and researchers once thought impossible: He has learned to write eloquently and independently about what it’s like to be trapped in an autistic body.

“I was able to ask Tito things I always wanted to ask my own son, Dov,” says Portia. “Why do you flap? Why do you rock? Why can’t you look me in the eyes? You know, and Tito could answer all those questions.”

What does Tito think is the biggest misperception that people have of autism? "That they don't have any understanding," writes Tito.

Scientists say they’ve never seen anyone like Tito before. By definition, people with severe autism have trouble with language – a notion that Tito shatters every time he puts pen to paper.

Dr. Mike Merzenich has been studying Tito for more than a year. A neuroscientist at the University of California at San Francisco, he says he believes Tito is not only authentic, but also miraculous.

“There can be little question in the writing and typing behaviors of Tito that he’s providing the answers, and that the answers are coming from his brain."

If Tito is a miracle of autism, the miracle worker is his mother Soma, who gave up a career in chemistry to devote her life to teaching her son - even though doctors in India said he would never be able to learn.

“At first, they told us he was mentally retarded because he wasn’t doing anything. He wasn’t doing what a 3-year-old child should do. He did not respond. He did not do anything,” says Soma, who was simply told to keep him busy.

As a young child, she noticed he was staring at calendars, so she started teaching him numbers and letters. When he wouldn’t hold a pencil, she used a rubber band to tie one to his finger and taught him to draw lines, and eventually to write.

If her method looks simple, parents of other severely autistic children will tell you that at one time or another, they, too, tried to get their child to type or communicate - with no success.

But Soma's method requires tenacity. For the past 11 years, this tireless taskmaster has spent every waking moment talking and teaching, constantly prodding, to keep Tito stimulated, and his mind on track.

Her determination, and her assumptions about Tito, may have made all the difference. She never doubted that he could learn. So she fed him a healthy diet of knowledge – from Shakespeare to geometry to music.

Tito says that if his mother hadn’t pushed him, he would have been a “vegetable.” Merzenich agrees.

Though Tito seems to have escaped that fate through his writing, he remains severely autistic. He can’t pick up the pad and pencil to write without his mother’s constant prodding and urging. But when Tito does write, it is with astonishing insight, especially for a boy just 14 years old.

He's written hundreds of poems, including one that 60 Minutes II watched him write from beginning to end: “I have fancied a little dream and the world is left unseen… with the light of your eyes… through the darkness of the night … I have held that little dream … beyond my world beyond all scenes.”

“Tito is a beautiful example of the possible," says Merzenich. "Here we have a boy that largely through the empirical interaction of this boy with his mother, a way has been found into his ability, into his spirit.”Is Tito just one in a million?

"I think there could be thousands, maybe tens of thousands of Titos out there," says Merzenich.

Scientists will soon find out if that's true. For the past year, Soma’s been testing her methods on a small group of children at the Carousel School in Los Angeles. Among her students is Jon and Portia's son, Dov.

Like Tito, these 9- and 10-year-olds are severely autistic. Few can speak. Until recently, teachers had no idea if anything was actually getting through.

But in the space of a year, kids who were being taught on a kindergarten level are now being taught math, social studies and science like fourth graders.

“I had honestly never seen anything like this in my life,” says teacher Karen Spratt, who admits she was skeptical when Soma first came to the school.

“Soma really did everything that I was told not to do as a teacher. For instance, she talked constantly. In my training, it was that you give basic directions and wait for a response, and not to verbalize too much because it could be distracting.”

Instead of being distracting, Soma’s “Rapid Prompting Method,” as she calls it, seems to keep the children’s attention focused long enough for them to communicate. She ignores their erratic movements and wandering eyes, and focuses instead on the mind locked inside.

Soma is sure that her method works. And she offers some astonishing proof. Dov was one of her first students – since it was his parents, Portia and Jon, whose foundation brought Soma to the United States.

His parents were astonished at his progress: From a boy who six weeks earlier couldn’t even tie his shoes suddenly came full sentences, complex thoughts and words spelled correctly.

“The best way I could put this is it seemed like I was seeing the kid that had disappeared seven years before. Suddenly it wasn’t just the one word or gesture I was able to get. It was whole sentences. And ideas,” says Portia.

“I was like a kid in a candy shop. I didn’t know where to start. You know? What’s your favorite color? What do you want to be when you grow up? I mean, you know, all the things you ask your child over the years. Every day, there was a whole new set of things I was finding out.”

They learned that Dov is interested in religion and history and is a surprisingly good mathematician.

60 Minutes II asked Dov how he had learned so much when no one had formally taught him. He told us that all those years when people thought he was lost in his own world, he was actually listening to everything around him.

Although Soma’s method has not yet been studied scientifically, Merzenich is one of many researchers who think it should be taken seriously: “I think it’s almost certain that this method can be used with many, many autistic children, and the initial indication from the studies in Los Angeles is that it might apply even to the substantial majority of these children.”

But one thing is certain. The ability to communicate has had a profound effect on Dov's life. He's happier now - and you don't have to be a scientist to understand why.

“I can tell others my feelings,” writes Dov.
After this report aired in January, Cure Autism Now received thousands of letters from families asking Soma to work with their children. Since then, she's worked individually with some 70 kids with autism. The results, parents tell us, have been remarkable.

Soma and Portia are now finishing a manual that will teach others how to use the Rapid Prompting Method.

Amazing to think of the possibilities for all of those out there and its just an amazing article to read. Words cannot describe the way this would change people's lives. The article almost makes me want to go out and get his book.

“I have fancied a little dream and the world is left unseen… with the light of your eyes… through the darkness of the night … I have held that little dream … beyond my world beyond all scenes.”

Just found linkto his website which has more of his writings:

http://www.cureautismnow.org/tito/

tspikes51 · 04-06-2005, 10:14 PM

Wow, this is incredible. I am pleased to hear that there is finally a way for them to get through to society.

tecoyah · 04-07-2005, 01:32 AM

That story actually made me cry. Thank You Xiangsu. There are far too few uplifting, and genuinely beautiful things in this world, but that is definately one of them.

Supple Cow · 04-07-2005, 02:20 AM

Yes, thanks for sharing such an uplifting story.

rsl12 · 04-07-2005, 02:41 AM

wow, i used to volunteer with some autistic kids--that is really amazing, if it works. I will have to research a bit.

amonkie · 04-07-2005, 04:44 AM

Autism is so devastating in that there's still a mind trapped within that body, and most conventional instruction methods just do not get through. I'll have to pass this one to the family with an autistic daughter I work with. Thanks for sharing!

Ace_O_Spades · 04-07-2005, 05:44 AM

Wow, this is incredible... It brings to light a whole new idea about what it's like to be autistic... astounding.

lurkette · 04-07-2005, 06:07 AM

Wow...that's really amazing!

I don't mean to be the cloud to the silver lining, but autism is an incredibly complex disorder, and is more properly referred to as a spectrum of disorders - I'm glad that this method worked with some autistic kids, but I don't know that I'd classify it as a "cure." A treatment, absolutely. But I'd be surprised if there aren't a handful of kids on the low-functioning side of the spectrum who are so severely affected that they're unreachable. But who knows. It has been shown that the kids who improve the most are those whose mothers are very engaged and not just directive but interactive with their kids - so maybe this has found a great way to harness that and give those kids some way to relate to the rest of us. Very cool.

minyn · 04-07-2005, 06:14 AM

if this can help a gopod percentage,t hat's great. Even if it cant help many, its the tip of the iceburg, and with something so dibilitating, anything will help i believe, and for that I'm happy =)

frogza · 04-07-2005, 06:15 AM

That is awesome, I hope that this sheds some light on my sisters problems, I would love to be able to get to know her. I've always felt like there was a wall between us, keeping two ordinary people from being able to communicate.

cj22009 · 04-07-2005, 06:17 AM

That is very cool thanks for the article !!

BigBen · 04-07-2005, 07:29 AM

Wow. Just wow.

I have since changed my signature. Remember that my first one said "Someone has already said the most clever thing, so I will quote them and pass it off as my own to remain academically dishonest..."

I don't think the boy will sue me for copyright. That was the coolest thing ever, to think that someone suffering from a disorder like that to communicate, through poetry, something so beautiful.

I was originally hoping to quote something profound by Halx as an ass-kissing homage, but this kid beat him to it.

Cool.

analog · 04-07-2005, 06:23 PM

The wonders she's already performed are miraculous... this is absolutely amazing, I barely have the words. I was having a horrible night, horrible mood up until I read this article. Now, there's a smile on my face. That's incredible.

hunnychile · 04-07-2005, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by analog

The wonders she's already performed are miraculous... this is absolutely amazing, I barely have the words. I was having a horrible night, horrible mood up until I read this article. Now, there's a smile on my face. That's incredible.

I agree entirely with dear Analog. This is one of those posts that is a true window into a new world of enlightenment.

And I wish that more teachers, parents and neighbors read this information and find hope.

Thanks so much.

Peace...

d3cemberist · 04-09-2005, 12:43 PM

Awesome! Very good news to hear. I feel so sorry for the people that have to put up with this awful disease.

raeanna74 · 04-09-2005, 01:10 PM

Wow this is great. I once had the priveledge of working with one autistic little girl. This makes so much sense. I tried everything. The one thing that calmed her better than anything else was to sit with her, rocking her and constantly talking to her. Keeping her attention focused on me and repeating calming phrases. THIS clicks with what seemed to work for her. I never realized more than it was a way of calming her when she'd start into one of her fits. I wish I could go back and expand on what I did accomplish.

This would be so awesome. We're so stuck in this educational mainstream method that it's miraculous to find something that's different. I think most kids would do better with more individualized teaching if only we could manage it. Imagine how well our educational system would be then.

I just love the maverick teachers - so inspiring.

Psycho Dad · 04-09-2005, 02:47 PM

/me forwards link to someone I know who has an autistic child. Thanks

04-06-2005, 09:49 PM	#1 (permalink)
Xiangsu Addict Location: Illinois	Cure for autism I was in Wal-mart the other day and saw a copy of National Geographic, on the cover was something about the science of the brain. I started reading and found the most peculiar article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/...in536416.shtml Tito Mukhopadhyay is challenging every assumption about autism, turning the world of Portia and Jon, and thousands of other parents like them, upside down. Like Dov, he's severely autistic. He, too, is almost mute and has little control over his body. But unlike Dov, and thousands of other autistic children, Tito is doing what doctors and researchers once thought impossible: He has learned to write eloquently and independently about what it’s like to be trapped in an autistic body. “I was able to ask Tito things I always wanted to ask my own son, Dov,” says Portia. “Why do you flap? Why do you rock? Why can’t you look me in the eyes? You know, and Tito could answer all those questions.” What does Tito think is the biggest misperception that people have of autism? "That they don't have any understanding," writes Tito. Scientists say they’ve never seen anyone like Tito before. By definition, people with severe autism have trouble with language – a notion that Tito shatters every time he puts pen to paper. Dr. Mike Merzenich has been studying Tito for more than a year. A neuroscientist at the University of California at San Francisco, he says he believes Tito is not only authentic, but also miraculous. “There can be little question in the writing and typing behaviors of Tito that he’s providing the answers, and that the answers are coming from his brain." If Tito is a miracle of autism, the miracle worker is his mother Soma, who gave up a career in chemistry to devote her life to teaching her son - even though doctors in India said he would never be able to learn. “At first, they told us he was mentally retarded because he wasn’t doing anything. He wasn’t doing what a 3-year-old child should do. He did not respond. He did not do anything,” says Soma, who was simply told to keep him busy. As a young child, she noticed he was staring at calendars, so she started teaching him numbers and letters. When he wouldn’t hold a pencil, she used a rubber band to tie one to his finger and taught him to draw lines, and eventually to write. If her method looks simple, parents of other severely autistic children will tell you that at one time or another, they, too, tried to get their child to type or communicate - with no success. But Soma's method requires tenacity. For the past 11 years, this tireless taskmaster has spent every waking moment talking and teaching, constantly prodding, to keep Tito stimulated, and his mind on track. Her determination, and her assumptions about Tito, may have made all the difference. She never doubted that he could learn. So she fed him a healthy diet of knowledge – from Shakespeare to geometry to music. Tito says that if his mother hadn’t pushed him, he would have been a “vegetable.” Merzenich agrees. Though Tito seems to have escaped that fate through his writing, he remains severely autistic. He can’t pick up the pad and pencil to write without his mother’s constant prodding and urging. But when Tito does write, it is with astonishing insight, especially for a boy just 14 years old. He's written hundreds of poems, including one that 60 Minutes II watched him write from beginning to end: “I have fancied a little dream and the world is left unseen… with the light of your eyes… through the darkness of the night … I have held that little dream … beyond my world beyond all scenes.” “Tito is a beautiful example of the possible," says Merzenich. "Here we have a boy that largely through the empirical interaction of this boy with his mother, a way has been found into his ability, into his spirit.”Is Tito just one in a million? "I think there could be thousands, maybe tens of thousands of Titos out there," says Merzenich. Scientists will soon find out if that's true. For the past year, Soma’s been testing her methods on a small group of children at the Carousel School in Los Angeles. Among her students is Jon and Portia's son, Dov. Like Tito, these 9- and 10-year-olds are severely autistic. Few can speak. Until recently, teachers had no idea if anything was actually getting through. But in the space of a year, kids who were being taught on a kindergarten level are now being taught math, social studies and science like fourth graders. “I had honestly never seen anything like this in my life,” says teacher Karen Spratt, who admits she was skeptical when Soma first came to the school. “Soma really did everything that I was told not to do as a teacher. For instance, she talked constantly. In my training, it was that you give basic directions and wait for a response, and not to verbalize too much because it could be distracting.” Instead of being distracting, Soma’s “Rapid Prompting Method,” as she calls it, seems to keep the children’s attention focused long enough for them to communicate. She ignores their erratic movements and wandering eyes, and focuses instead on the mind locked inside. Soma is sure that her method works. And she offers some astonishing proof. Dov was one of her first students – since it was his parents, Portia and Jon, whose foundation brought Soma to the United States. His parents were astonished at his progress: From a boy who six weeks earlier couldn’t even tie his shoes suddenly came full sentences, complex thoughts and words spelled correctly. “The best way I could put this is it seemed like I was seeing the kid that had disappeared seven years before. Suddenly it wasn’t just the one word or gesture I was able to get. It was whole sentences. And ideas,” says Portia. “I was like a kid in a candy shop. I didn’t know where to start. You know? What’s your favorite color? What do you want to be when you grow up? I mean, you know, all the things you ask your child over the years. Every day, there was a whole new set of things I was finding out.” They learned that Dov is interested in religion and history and is a surprisingly good mathematician. 60 Minutes II asked Dov how he had learned so much when no one had formally taught him. He told us that all those years when people thought he was lost in his own world, he was actually listening to everything around him. Although Soma’s method has not yet been studied scientifically, Merzenich is one of many researchers who think it should be taken seriously: “I think it’s almost certain that this method can be used with many, many autistic children, and the initial indication from the studies in Los Angeles is that it might apply even to the substantial majority of these children.” But one thing is certain. The ability to communicate has had a profound effect on Dov's life. He's happier now - and you don't have to be a scientist to understand why. “I can tell others my feelings,” writes Dov. After this report aired in January, Cure Autism Now received thousands of letters from families asking Soma to work with their children. Since then, she's worked individually with some 70 kids with autism. The results, parents tell us, have been remarkable. Soma and Portia are now finishing a manual that will teach others how to use the Rapid Prompting Method. Amazing to think of the possibilities for all of those out there and its just an amazing article to read. Words cannot describe the way this would change people's lives. The article almost makes me want to go out and get his book. “I have fancied a little dream and the world is left unseen… with the light of your eyes… through the darkness of the night … I have held that little dream … beyond my world beyond all scenes.” Just found linkto his website which has more of his writings: http://www.cureautismnow.org/tito/ Last edited by Xiangsu; 04-07-2005 at 07:04 PM..

04-06-2005, 10:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
tspikes51 Fuckin' A Location: Lex Vegas	Wow, this is incredible. I am pleased to hear that there is finally a way for them to get through to society. __________________ "I'm telling you, we need to get rid of a few people or a million." -Maddox

04-07-2005, 01:32 AM	#3 (permalink)
tecoyah Illusionary	That story actually made me cry. Thank You Xiangsu. There are far too few uplifting, and genuinely beautiful things in this world, but that is definately one of them. __________________ Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. - Buddha

04-07-2005, 02:20 AM	#4 (permalink)
Supple Cow Americow, the Beautiful Location: Washington, D.C.	Yes, thanks for sharing such an uplifting story. __________________ "I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." (Michael Jordan)

04-07-2005, 02:41 AM	#5 (permalink)
rsl12 On the lam Location: northern va	wow, i used to volunteer with some autistic kids--that is really amazing, if it works. I will have to research a bit. __________________ oh baby oh baby, i like gravy.

04-07-2005, 04:44 AM	#6 (permalink)
amonkie Drifting Administrator Location: Windy City	Autism is so devastating in that there's still a mind trapped within that body, and most conventional instruction methods just do not get through. I'll have to pass this one to the family with an autistic daughter I work with. Thanks for sharing! __________________ Calling from deep in the heart, from where the eyes can't see and the ears can't hear, from where the mountain trails end and only love can go... ~~~ Three Rivers Hare Krishna

04-07-2005, 05:44 AM	#7 (permalink)
Ace_O_Spades The Death Card Location: EH!?!?	Wow, this is incredible... It brings to light a whole new idea about what it's like to be autistic... astounding. __________________ Feh.

04-07-2005, 06:07 AM	#8 (permalink)
lurkette My future is coming on Moderator Emeritus Location: east of the sun and west of the moon	Wow...that's really amazing! I don't mean to be the cloud to the silver lining, but autism is an incredibly complex disorder, and is more properly referred to as a spectrum of disorders - I'm glad that this method worked with some autistic kids, but I don't know that I'd classify it as a "cure." A treatment, absolutely. But I'd be surprised if there aren't a handful of kids on the low-functioning side of the spectrum who are so severely affected that they're unreachable. But who knows. It has been shown that the kids who improve the most are those whose mothers are very engaged and not just directive but interactive with their kids - so maybe this has found a great way to harness that and give those kids some way to relate to the rest of us. Very cool. __________________ "If ten million people believe a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing." - Anatole France

04-07-2005, 06:14 AM	#9 (permalink)
minyn young and in bloom Location: under the bodhi tree.... bling	if this can help a gopod percentage,t hat's great. Even if it cant help many, its the tip of the iceburg, and with something so dibilitating, anything will help i believe, and for that I'm happy =) __________________ "Woke up this morning with a blue moon in my eye" ~A3 "woke up this morning" "Don't compromise yourself, you're all you've got." -Janis Joplin

04-07-2005, 06:15 AM	#10 (permalink)
frogza Registered User Location: Right Here	That is awesome, I hope that this sheds some light on my sisters problems, I would love to be able to get to know her. I've always felt like there was a wall between us, keeping two ordinary people from being able to communicate. Last edited by frogza; 04-07-2005 at 06:16 AM.. Reason: typo

04-07-2005, 06:17 AM	#11 (permalink)
cj22009 On the edge of control Location: Ga	That is very cool thanks for the article !!

04-07-2005, 07:29 AM	#12 (permalink)
BigBen Comedian Location: Use the search button	Wow. Just wow. I have since changed my signature. Remember that my first one said "Someone has already said the most clever thing, so I will quote them and pass it off as my own to remain academically dishonest..." I don't think the boy will sue me for copyright. That was the coolest thing ever, to think that someone suffering from a disorder like that to communicate, through poetry, something so beautiful. I was originally hoping to quote something profound by Halx as an ass-kissing homage, but this kid beat him to it. Cool. __________________ 3.141592654 Hey, if you are impressed with my memorizing pi to 10 digits, you should see the size of my penis.

04-07-2005, 06:23 PM	#13 (permalink)
analog Banned	The wonders she's already performed are miraculous... this is absolutely amazing, I barely have the words. I was having a horrible night, horrible mood up until I read this article. Now, there's a smile on my face. That's incredible.

04-09-2005, 12:43 PM	#15 (permalink)
d3cemberist Crazy	Awesome! Very good news to hear. I feel so sorry for the people that have to put up with this awful disease. __________________ i like my coffee black and my parole denied.

04-09-2005, 01:10 PM	#16 (permalink)
raeanna74 I'm not a blonde! I'm knot! I'm knot! I'm knot! Location: Upper Michigan	Wow this is great. I once had the priveledge of working with one autistic little girl. This makes so much sense. I tried everything. The one thing that calmed her better than anything else was to sit with her, rocking her and constantly talking to her. Keeping her attention focused on me and repeating calming phrases. THIS clicks with what seemed to work for her. I never realized more than it was a way of calming her when she'd start into one of her fits. I wish I could go back and expand on what I did accomplish. This would be so awesome. We're so stuck in this educational mainstream method that it's miraculous to find something that's different. I think most kids would do better with more individualized teaching if only we could manage it. Imagine how well our educational system would be then. I just love the maverick teachers - so inspiring. __________________ "Always learn the rules so that you can break them properly." Dalai Lama My Karma just ran over your Dogma.

04-09-2005, 02:47 PM	#17 (permalink)
Psycho Dad Mulletproof Location: Some nucking fut house.	/me forwards link to someone I know who has an autistic child. Thanks __________________ Don't always trust the opinions of experts.