Something To Ponder, Reason for Hope

I had seen commercials on television a while back indicating that some 1 in 166 children are diagnosed with autism, while a CDC report issued earlier that year indicated the figure was actually closer to 1 in 150 children.

Startling, really.

Autism has touched me personally in only a small way and is one of those subjects I admit to having a painful lack of knowledge. Outside of a cousin I have met perhaps twice in my life (lives in California), an ex-boyfriend's brother with mild autism, and a stepdaughter (also several states away) who also suffers severe developmental delay and mental retardation (the reason attaining diagnosis was difficult, her symptoms being attributed to the other conditions), I have little experience with it and, unfortunately, a topic only briefly touched on in psychology and even pathophysiology courses in college.

I had no clue that some individuals diagnosed with this unfortunate disorder have recovered from it. I had learned there were structural differences in the brain, so now I am left wondering what led to this recovery and - prayerfully - if those structural anomalies have also been reversed. If not, is there a chance the autism could re-develop? Per the article, scan images are still being analyzed.

In any case, I will be highly interested in seeing the outcome of this new research. How amazing it would be to be able to offer these people a "second chance" and/or reduce the incidence of children being diagnosed!