Huffington Magazine Issue 83 | Page 43

LOST BOY support themselves. Of course, autism spectrum disorders are complicated. Researchers have yet to identify the causes of the condition, and every child develops differently. But many physicians, such as researcher Dr. Laurie Stephens of the California-based Education Spectrum and Dr. Kathleen Atmore, Max’s doctor at Children’s National Medical Center, describe a “window of opportunity.” “The window of opportunity is that the brain is still developing and very malleable until age eight or nine,” Stephens said. “If, at that point, you utilize some of the evidence-based best practices like behavioral intervention strategy, you really are rewiring the brain.” Different researchers have different ideas about how this works. Peter Mundy, the director of educational research at University of California Davis’ MIND Institute, says there might be a second window lat er on. But Mundy and Stephens agree that study after study has shown that early intervention — targeting children during this critical period for brain development — is key. A 2005 Research in Developmental Disabilities study found that children who received spe- HUFFINGTON 01.12.14 cific autism school programming called “intensive behavior analytic intervention” in small teacherstudent ratios yielded “statistically significant” gains in all areas except for motor skills when compared with their peers. Studies like those have made Greg and his wife, Maya Wechsler, hopeful that if Max catches the right instruc- Max has severe autism. He can’t talk, sit still or express his desires. Sometimes he smears his own feces on bathroom walls and dives head first onto his bed. No one understands why. tion at the critical moment, he might learn to ask questions. To read. To become an independent member of society. Experts have seen children become self-sufficient after starting off more despondent than Max. That’s what enrages Greg during the school meetings, an extreme version of the kind experienced by nearly every parent: That schools are wasting his son’s precious time and, more significantly, the plasticity of his young brain. After cycling Max through four public schools in his short life,