IMPROVEMENT—REAL OR APPARENT? : A Seven Year Follow-Up of Children Hospitalized and Discharged From a Residential Setting

This survey revealed a more hopeful outcome for this group of seriously sick children than previous reports have suggested. It is gratifying to find that so many are doing well and that others, doing less well, are so comfortably absorbed by their families. Most encouraging of all are the reports on the 4 non-verbal autistic children who now talk and are active in society outside the home. This is especially heartening when one considers how late in life it was before any intervention occurred for some of these children. Outcome is related not only to original diagnosis but also to a complex of attitudinal and social factors. In many cases, one is left to conclude that the Critical elements in improvement can never be isolated. Or, sometimes, improvement, like beauty, lies in the eye of the beholder.