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“We are finding more solid evidence, based on higher quality studies, that these early intensive behavioral interventions can be effective for young children on the autism spectrum, especially related to their cognitive and language skills,” said lead author Amy Weitlauf, Ph.D., assistant professor of Pediatrics and a Vanderbilt Kennedy Center investigator. “But the individual response to these treatments often varies from child to child.”

I gave birth to the most beautiful child I could ever have imagined. I love her eyes. I love her button nose. I love her little lips, her barely-there fuzzball head of hair. I love the way she coos, and the way she smiles a goofy, mouth-wide open grin. In five days, I will be handing her over to a team of pediatric surgeons. They will cut open her chest and, provided all goes well, they will repair her heart. In five days, I will face the hardest day I have ever had to face as a mother. I will face the hardest day I have ever had to face in general. It's there, just looming.

For the first time, toddlers with autism have demonstrated significant improvement after intensive intervention by parents rather than clinicians, according to a new Florida State University study published online in the journal Pediatrics.