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Friday, January 18, 2013

More Misreporting of the Optimal Outcome Study

Media outlets continue to botch coverage of an important studyHannah Rosin writes in Slate: "This morning’s New York Times points to an intriguing study ostensibly showing that some small percentage of people with autism can `outgrow' their symptoms."

Wrong:  the article says no such thing, and in fact says just the opposite. “These people did not just grow out of their autism,” the Times article quotes lead study author Deborah Fein. “I have been treating children for 40 years and never seen improvements like this unless therapists and parents put in years of work.”

Even worse, the Slate headline reads: "Can We Really `Cure' Autism?" The study does not use the word "cure" and only mentions "recovery" in the context of quoting others.