Key takeaways from our investigation into the science behind an alternative autism therapy

While many clinics feature glowing testimonials from satisfied customers, patient experiences with MERT run a broad gamut.

The Times spoke to parents who said MERT led to positive, lasting changes for their autistic children, improving their ability to communicate, concentrate and sleep through the night.

The Times also spoke to many parents who saw only minimal changes in their children’s behavior, or no changes at all. Others saw worrying behavioral regressions that persisted long after therapy was complete.

Without accompanying data, there is no way to know whether any patient’s experience with a treatment is typical or an outlier.

“If you go to a clinic website and they have dozens of quotes from parents saying, ‘This changed my child’s life in XYZ ways,’ that isn’t the same as evidence,” said Zoe Gross of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN), a nonprofit group run by and for autistic adults. “If the main way something’s advertised is through testimonials, it may be because there isn’t research, or what research was done showed it wasn’t effective.”

ASAN is one of five autism advocacy groups The Times consulted that said there wais not enough evidence for them to recommend MERT as a therapy.