An innovative method of treating people on the autism spectrum is currently being studied, and it shows a lot of promise. The autism treatment, developed by Dr. Laurence Sugarman, will attempt to turn autistic children’s symptoms into strengths, leading to a productive adulthood and better quality of life. This method teaches affected children how to control their psychophysiology and behavior using computerized biofeedback and clinical hypnosis.
Dr. Sugarman developed his method in response to the recent increase in autism spectrum disorders. Instead of trying to change the children’s symptoms, which has never been fully effective, he decided to try and teach autistic children to utilize them as an effort to self-regulate their inner turmoil. Three projects are ongoing, involving different age groups: teaching coping skills to anxious ADHD children, developing a computer-based role-playing biofeedback game for teenagers and creating a service and research program for family members with autism.
If proven successful, this treatment will allow autistic children to be more socially engaging, decrease the need for cognitive rigidity and repetitive behaviors and boost their confidence. This is exciting news for every autism specialist as well as parents who have a child on the spectrum.
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