Summary: In the autism community, the word "recovery" can invoke a variety of emotions, some positive and hopeful, some skeptical and negative. So let's talk about that in an open, intelligent and respectful way. Today Karen at Autism Empowerment Radio talks with John and Miriah White, parents of boy and girl twins and founders of Mighty Oak Autism Consulting. When their son was around the age of 2, he received an autism diagnosis. As many parents do, Miriah and John set out to learn everything they could about autism. Almost four years of 40 hour weeks of in-home, on-the-floor, face-to-face autism therapy worked for him and their son's autism re-evaluation showed he no longer met the criteria for autism. At 6 years old he is in a mainstream classroom and according to his teacher, indistiguishable from his peers. He is a socially appropriate, inquisitive and intelligent boy who loves to spend time with his twin sister and his friends. Now John and Miriah help other parents as well through individual consulting. John has a Master's in Education with an emphasis in Autism and is currently a high school teacher of students with learning disabilities. Miriah is a stay-at-home mom, having taken a medical leave from her teaching career to take care of her son and consult with autism families. John shares, "children on the autism spectrum develop on a different trajectory than neurotypical children and those trajectories vary greatly within autism. But sometimes parents can significantly change their child's trajectory with effective early intervention. Usually, even with early intervention, children continue to meet the criteria for autism. But their functioning - and therefore their futures improve."
