Watchdog pulls advert pushing autism cure

Published on Tuesday 2 March 2010 18:03

A NEWSPAPER advert which promoted a cure for autism breached UK guidelines.

The ads for the Autism Treatment Centre of America appeared in regional editions of Metro newspaper, headed "Autism Recovery" and stating: "2 hours to change your child's life with American autism expert Raun K Kaufman, himself fully recovered from autism."

The ad listed dates and venues for a series of free public lectures and three testimonials.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) said two readers complained because of the implication that autism was a curable temporary condition and could be treated in two hours.

The Option Institute and Fellowship, which ran the programme though the Autism Treatment Centre of America, said it believed a person diagnosed with autism could make a full recovery but

the claim "2 hours to change your child's life" was a reference to the lecture.

They did not believe consumers would expect the lecture to lead to a child's recovery in two hours.

The ASA ruled that the advert must not appear again in its current form.