Will the "real" Steven please come out?

The whole article, Autism: The search for Steven, is only available by subscription to New Scientist (which I don't have), but the article preview, the first paragraph actually, gives an idea of the tone the article likely takes:

Will it ever be possible to "bring out" the real person in an autistic child? Perhaps not, but Vilayanur Ramachandran and Lindsay Oberman think they have compelling evidence to explain autism's bizarre symptoms.

More disturbing to me is the quote from one of the physician's patients (actually the patient's mother):

I KNOW Steven is trapped in there somewhere. If only you could find a way to tell our son how dearly we love him, perhaps you could bring him out, Dr Ramachandran.

I wish I could reach out to that mother and tell her that her son is right there in front of her, that every day she lets go by without getting to know her son is a day she will regret later.

If anyone reading this has a subscription or has read the entire article, I'd love to ear your thoughts.

tagged as: Autism, Asperger's Syndrome, Vilayanur Ramachandran, Lindsay Oberman