Center for Autism and Related Disorders' Executive Director Dr. Doreen Granpeesheh Honored by the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists
Dr. Granpeesheh receives the 2011 George Winokur Research Award for groundbreaking study, the first ever to document recovery in a large group of children with autism.

LOS ANGELES, CA, November 17, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- The Center for Autism and Related Disorders, Inc. (CARD), the world's largest provider of top-quality behavioral intervention services to children with autism, has announced Founder and Executive Director Doreen Granpeesheh, PhD, BCBA-D, has been awarded the 2011 American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists (AACP) Winokur Award for her research article, "Retrospective Analysis of Clinical Records in 38 Cases of Recovery from Autism," which was published in the August 2009 Annals of Clinical Psychiatry. The award will be presented at the AACP Annual CME Conference to be held at the McCormick Place Hotel in Chicago on April 15-17, 2011.

"I am honored to receive this award," says Dr. Granpeesheh. "This study is the first step in a line of research we (CARD) are doing that will further document recovery, identify variables that support and prevent it, as well as improving the effectiveness of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) treatment so that a greater percentage of children can recover."

Dr. Granpeesheh led the CARD research team on the first study ever to document recovery in a large group of children with autism. "Retrospective Analysis of Clinical Records in 38 Cases of Recovery from Autism" study found that some children with autism who receive early intensive behavioral intervention recover from the disorder, achieving functioning levels that are indistinguishable from typically developing peers.

The researchers, Doreen Granpeesheh, PhD, BCBA-D, Jonathan Tarbox, PhD, BCBA-D, Dennis R. Dixon, PhD, and collaborators Edward Carr, PhD, and Martha Herbert, MD, PhD, summarized the outcomes of children with autism who achieved IQ scores in the average range, significant increases in adaptive skills, and later lost their Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis.

Study participants' average age at intake was 3 years, 4 months, and each received intensive behavioral intervention from CARD for a minimum of 12 months. Average IQ was 83.6 at intake and 107.9 at discharge. Average adaptive skills were 68.04 at intake and 88.87 at discharge. Senior clinical staff involved with the treatment of the research participants also reported that the children achieved age‐appropriate functioning in school and other areas, and no longer required support of any kind after discharge.

"Children have been recovering from autism through ABA treatment for decades now, but this is the first study to document it in a relatively large group of children," says Dr. Jonathan Tarbox, CARD Research Director. "Several of the participants in this study are actually in college right now. It's really amazing to see. Many people in mainstream society are unaware that recovery from autism exists and many still try to deny it. But the fact of the matter is that recovery exists and people working in top-quality ABA programs have seen it for years."

"It's important to keep in mind that this study was just a retrospective review of whatever data were already present in the charts of clients who achieved recovery, so we were very limited as far as what data we could get. For our current and future research projects related to recovery, our definition of recovery is the most rigorous that has been proposed in the field and includes:

1. Loss of eligibility for an ASD diagnosis according to the DSM and the ADOS

2. Score in the average or above‐average range (one standard deviation below the mean or higher) on standardized tests of intelligence, language, socialization and generalized adaptive functioning

3. Achieve passing grades in a regular education placement, without specialized support of any kind

Dr. Granpeesheh will be presented with the Winokur Award at the AACP Annual CME Conference, to be held at the McCormick Place Hotel in Chicago on April 15-17, 2011.

Press Release Contact Information:

Daphne Plump
CARD, Inc.
Public Relations Manager
19019 Ventura Blvd
Los Angeles, CA
USA 91356
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