Although there are currently no effective treatments for autism symtoms in older children of adults, the prospects are turning out to be entirely different for very young children who get prompt treatment. psychologists have had remarkable success with behavioral therapy, which involves therapists working intensively with chilldren to gen them to do tasks they're having difficulty with. the mifne center is israel applies its own from of intersive therapy , typically lasting about two weeks and focusing on getting the child to make contact with parents and eat and move nomally. some 200 children have have been through the program; about three quarters have remained free of any signs of autism or any other significant developmental disorder, according to mifne founder and director Hanna Alonim. "If we can get them here as babies, close to 100 percent won't develop autism," she says. "if we don't see them until they're 2½ , it's a different story." To bolster mifne findings with more- formal research , clinicians at the Tel Acic Sourasky Medical Center have begun screening and videotapping infants thought to be at risk of pre - autism before the mifne treatment