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252 of 268 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great for Treating Symptoms, May 4, 2000
By A Customer
I had tremendous success with ABA therapy for my son, and this book is an excellent tool for implementing an ABA program. I also have great respect for the author of this book. However, I would like to caution readers that Ms. Maurice believes that autism is a nothing more than a behavioral disorder, and dismisses every other treatment that is not ABA. As we all know, every child with autism is different. Nobody knows why her kids recovered from ABA alone when so many do not. Although hundreds of doctors and thousands of parents believe that autistic children (especially those with gastrointestinal problems) are physically ill, and metabolically, immunologically and nutritionally unstable, Ms. Maurice dismisses this as pseudoscience without entertaining the possibility that science may someday bear this out. I had great success with ABA, true, but I know many more kids who recovered from ABA plus biological intervention (GF/CF diet, anti-fungal treatment, immunotherapy) than from ABA alone. I researched my child's autism for years, and the most important thing I learned along the way is that autism is a complex disorder, with many subtypes. As a result of dietary intervention, my son lost his diagnosis and is now mainstreamed. During his treatment, missing a day of ABA didn't make a difference. Missing a day of dietary intervention set him back a month. For some of the kids, the autistic behaviors DO actually seem to result from the improper breakdown of certain proteins, and removing them actually takes away the disorder. When the scientific studies are completed and this is borne out, I pity the parents who listened to the chapter in this book in which such therapies are scorned and dismissed. Until we really understand autism, a closed mind can be disastrous for our children.
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