New Treatment For Autistic Children Comes to Madison

Updated: 2:41 PM Mar 6, 2006
Zac Schultz

Dr. Steven Gutstein agrees, "The assumption was you couldn't treat the autism itself, so you had to learn to live with it and give you whatever abilities you could have given the fact your brain was developing in this way."

Dr. Gutstein doesn't accept that answer anymore, so he created the Relationship Development Intervention program. "We're saying we believe it's possible to change the way the brain is developing so that we're not just treating people with autism, we're treating the autism itself."

Dr. Gutstein says people with autism don't develop the ability to solve problems or develop relationships–and that's why they rarely learn to live independently or develop lasting friendships.

The RDI system is pretty basic. "We slow things down, we amplify things so they can start to become more effective in teaching their child how to think about the world, how to make decisions, how to solve problems," says Dr. Gutstein.

Excerpt from article at: http://nbc15.madison.com/news/headlines/2407501.html

For information, resources and practical strategies please visit: www.AutismConcepts.com.