Nightline: Daily E-mail (3/09)

W A S H I N G T O N, March 9 -- Tonight we report on an intensive early intervention treatment for autism.It's the story of two families and two autistic young boys – each enrolled inthis therapy. It's expensive, it's exhausting, and it's nearlyall-consuming for the families. But for children with little to no abilityto communicate – what is a word worth?

Watching a baby grow into toddlerhood is one of life's most breathtakingdramas. As a friend of mine once described it, his son arrived on thisplanet like an alien who knew nothing of our world – he couldn't speakthe language or express himself at all. And within a year or two, hepretty much knew everything. He had opinions about what he wanted to eatand wear and do. And with language skills that seemed to growexponentially by the day, he could communicate those desires to hisparents.

But for parents of children with autism, this commonplace drama ismysteriously out of reach. Autism is usually diagnosed in the second andthird years of life, as typically developing children of the same agebegin to advance by leaps and bounds into little beings who communicatequite efficiently – often infuriatingly so. But to children with autismand their parents, the frustration of those toddler years is somethingelse altogether. Why can't their beautiful children communicate with themand the world around them? And more importantly, can they be helped?

Tonight's broadcast focuses on one kind of treatment for autism calledApplied Behavior Analysis. It is an intense, expensive course of therapy,involving countless hours of repeated exercises. In this broadcast youwill meet two families, equally devoted to reaching their children lockedin the mysterious world of autism. As you will see, Applied BehaviorAnalysis can help some autistic children achieve stunning success. Butthe sad truth is that not all children enrolled in this treatment makesuch enormous advancements. Some are helped just a little bit, some not atall. But how do you measure the value of these advances, big or small? Asone parent of an autistic child enrolled in this treatment told me – herchild couldn't say "Mommy, I love you." And now he can.