He described some of his research subjects as having “recovered,” a concept that remains controversial but appealed to parents and helped launch an industry that provides the treatment to the growing numbers of children being diagnosed.
“Before that (paper), people still felt that there was no hope once your child was diagnosed with autism,” said Doreen Granpesheeh, one of his former graduate students who went on to open the Center for Autism Research and Treatment, a large therapy company.
Our need and overriding desire to find cures for what ails us can drive individuals, families, advocates, institutions, and the culture as a whole to see cures where in fact there are none. The obvious hope is that we can discover a pill or other singular form of treatment for everything from cancer to autism. We have in many circumstances come along way when it comes to treating diseases, but we have so much farther to go. In this regard, Newsweek has an article that helps us understand the realities associated with finding cures titled “Desperately Seeking Cures: How the road from promising scientific breakthrough to real-world remedy has become all but a dead end.” Here is an excerpt:
From 1998 to 2003, the budget of the NIH—which supports such research at universities and medical centers as well as within its own labs in Bethesda, Md.—doubled, to $27 billion, and is now $31 billion. There is very little downside, for a president or Congress, in appeasing patient-advocacy groups as well as voters by supporting biomedical research. But judging by the only criterion that matters to patients and taxpayers—not how many interesting discoveries about cells or genes or synapses have been made, but how many treatments for diseases the money has bought—the return on investment to the American taxpayer has been approximately as satisfying as the AIG bailout. “Basic research is healthy in America,” says John Adler, a Stanford University professor who invented the CyberKnife, a robotic device that treats cancer with precise, high doses of radiation. “But patients aren’t benefiting. Our understanding of diseases is greater than ever. But academics think, ‘We had three papers in Science or Nature, so that must have been [NIH] money well spent.’?”
More and more policymakers and patients are therefore asking, where are the cures? The answer is that potential cures, or at least treatments, are stuck in the chasm between a scientific discovery and the doctor’s office: what’s been called the valley of death.
This animated video of 12-year-old Joshua Littman, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, interviewing his mother, Sarah, from StoryCorps is wonderful and so is this organization. Here is a description of StoryCorps from the site:
The heart of StoryCorps is the conversation between two people who are important to each other: a son asking his mother about her childhood, an immigrant telling his friend about coming to America, or a couple reminiscing on their 50th wedding anniversary. By helping people to connect, and to talk about the questions that matter, the StoryCorps experience is powerful and sometimes even life-changing.
Our goal is to make that experience accessible to all, and find new ways to inspire people to record and preserve the stories of someone important to them. Just as powerful is the experience of listening. Whenever people listen to these stories, they hear the courage, humor, trials and triumphs of an incredible range of voices.
What we are finding out in the rapidly developing fields of neuroscience and cognitive psychology through research and with the aid of advances in brain related technologies is opening us up to our power, potential and as importantly where and how things go wrong. Future treatment of many psychiatric/neurological disorders depends on what these scientist are finding out. As the panel notes throughout the discussion. major challenges still remain to translate what they are finding out to actual treatment results in homes and schools. What you realize watching these experts is how exciting and promising this science is and how far we have to go to make these findings a reality.
The goal of this site and our work is to identify the many ways we name and treat ourselves, others, and the world around us. On our home page you can find interesting commentary and research about what is going on in homes, schools, consulting rooms, courtrooms, laboratories, workplaces and the culture. As consultants through our agency we help individuals, couples, children and families (re)claim a more stable and sustainable path forward in their lives.
Our dedication is to finding what we call realistic hope and establishing accountability whenever and wherever possible. We look forward to hearing back from you in an effort to build awareness and community around the challenges we must face together and for our children. It is in the spirit of healing that we welcome you.
Katy Gaddess PI, MFT
Investigator, Therapist, Social Worker
Jeff Gaddess PhD, MA
Consultant, Case Analyst, Cultural Mythologist
The content of this site is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be and should not be used in place of the advice of your therapist, psychiatrist, attorney, physician or other medical professional. K and J Investigations and Case Management does not provide clinical advice on this blog, nor should its contents be considered clinical advice. Should you have any healthcare-related questions, please call or see your physician or other healthcare provider promptly. For additional information please read our terms of service and privacy policy.
