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TREATMENTS
There
is no cure for autism and at this time there is no test to predict if your child will develop it.
We hope with more money given to research and more public awareness that
we will find a cure.
Below are some of the treatments some families try.
Not everything works for every child and I urge you to use caution.
With Andrew we initially only tried things that could not do him harm,
(ABA, diet, vitamins, speech and occupational therapy, sensory integration,
early intervention).
If you do try any of these treatments do so only with a good physician's aid
and try one at a time. We are hoping that by trying each one
separately we may be able to judge each one better.
We have known parents who have tried some of the things below and they now wished that they had not
(felt it was a waste of time or their child was worse off than before).
Again I urge that you use treatments with caution and check with your doctor
before starting anything new (preferably a proactive autism doctor such as
those found at research or treatment centers).
The
Autism Society has a chart that compares some of these treatments.
I
highly recommend everyone doing one treatment at a time so that you can better
determine what is truly helping. To help judge how much a treatment is helping
go to: http://www.autism.com/atec/
and answer the questions. You will get a score to compare how things are
going. You may hear other parents talking about an ATEC improvement score for
a particular treatment and this is where you can score things and help Dr.
Rimland track treatments. Under the assessment period I would suggest you say
baseline on your treatment information.
EDUCATION/MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES
ABA
(Applied Behavioral Analysis)
Based on the works of Lovaas and Skinner.
See my page on
ABA
TEACCH
Is a well-established educational intervention. It is not really a
"therapy" but a strategy where students use a chart to help with
transitioning between activities. It is often used in school systems.
Picture Exchange system(PECS)
Pyramid Educational Consultants, Inc. -a
source of training for the Picture Exchange
Communication System (PECS).
See this site for free PECS.
The
Son-Rise ProgramŽ
Offered by only one for-profit organization.
Facilitated
Communication
This is an extensive but not yet exhaustive list of references of articles on
facilitated communication. Look for periodic updates, which will include
references to articles in press.
See
the speech section and play therapies below for additional choices.
DIET
INTERVENTION
See
my Nutrition Page for more information.
Gluten
Free Casien Free Diet
ANDI-Autism
Network for Dietary Intervention
Homepage for this well-known organization.
http://www.autismNDI.com/
Nutritional Supplements -
B6 & Magnesium, DMG, Vitamin A, SuperNuThera,
TMG, EnZymAid, etc.
ALTERNATIVE
MEDICINE INTERVENTIONS
Overview
of Many Alternative Theories
Alternative
Therapies for Children with
Brain Injury and Developmental Disorders
This site has an immediately accessible index to the following autism
theories: Opioid Excess Theories, Opioid-like substances, Dipeptidyl peptidase
deficiency, Opioids and secretin, Opioids and glutathione, Opioids and
immunosuppression, Gluten/Casein Theories, Opioid receptors, Urinary IAG,
Fatty Acids, Gamma Interferon Theory, Free Sulphate Theory, Cholocystokinin
and Autism, Oxytocin and Vasopressin in Autism, Autism and Amino Acids,
Autoimmune Theory, Viral Infection Theory, Vaccinations and Autism, DPT and
brain damage, MMR vaccine and autism, Action of Secretin Theories, Secretin
and camp, Lectins and secretin, Prenatal Aspartame Exposure
DAN
Protocol (from Defeat Autism Now)
In my opinion this is a must have for parents. It details the tests that help
diagnose medical/biological problems with your child. It is only $25.00's and
they will send you a list of DAN doctors and others other information free. I
have referred to mine many times. To request the DAN Protocol or other
information click here http://www.autism.com/ari/request.html
See the DAN 2001
PowerPoint Presentations
from the spring conference in (Atlanta, GA 2001).
Secretin
S.F.T.A.H. Society For
The Autistically
Handicapped -Page on Secretin
Background information about secretin from
Paul Shattock, Autism Research Unit.
Enzyme Potentiated
Desensitization
Enzyme Potentiated Desensitization (EPD) is a method of immunotherapy
developed byimmunologist, Dr. Leonard M. McEwen, in England in the mid 60's.
The method involves desensitization with combinations of a wide variety of
extremely low dose allergens.
Food Allergy Net
Activities, studies, and research related to food allergies. Practical tips,
recipes, and educational materials. Register to receive Special Allergy Alerts
by e-mail regarding product recalls or ingredient changes.
Chelation
Cleansing the body of toxins-especially mercury.
Epsom
Salt Baths (or just foot soaking or spraying)
This is suppose to supply sulphur and magnesium for calming, the Zyme Prime
diagestive enzymes, and molybdenum. My son seems to enjoy them.
BODY
& MIND THERAPIES
Sensory
Integration and Occupational Therapy
See my page on Sensory Integration.
Handwriting Without Tears (HWT)
is a way to teach pre-printing, printing and cursive. It was developed by Jan
Z. Olsen, OTR, an occupational therapist and a handwriting specialist. HWT is
an inclusive method for teaching children of ALL ability levels. ADOPTED BY
THE CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
CranioSacral Therapy (CST)
A gentle hands-on method of evaluating and enhancing the function of the
craniosacral system. The Upledger Institute (UI) founded in 1985 by
osteopathic physician and surgeon John E. Upledger supports the work of
CranioSacral Therapy (CST).
Auditory
Treatments
AIT-Berard
Method
The Society for Auditory Intervention Techniques distributes information about
auditory integration training (AIT) based on the Berard method and other
auditory-based interventions to professionals and parents through information
packets; The Sound Connection quarterly newsletter; and annual conferences.
The Berard method is different than the Tomatis auditory treatment.
Tomatis Method
The Tomatis Method builds listening skills through auditory stimulation to
improve learning and language abilities, communication, creativity, and social
behavior. This page offers an overview of the Tomatis Method, addresses of
Tomatis centers, and tells how the training affects Attention Deficit
Disorders (ADD), Autism, Depressive Tendencies, Learning Disabilities and
Dyslexia, and foreign language training. note: The Tomatis method is different
than the Berard AIT auditory treatment.
Rhythmic Entrainment Intervention (REI)
The REI Institute offers Rhythmic Entrainment Intervention (REI), a musical
therapy program which uses specific rhythmic patterns performed on a hand drum
to aid individuals with neurobiological disorders, including autism and
related developmental disabilities.
Speech
and Language Therapy
ASHA
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Speech is an important area to address for our spectrum kids. Some of our
children may never use a verbal language. It is very important to find a
therapy that addresses these needs and a spectrum experienced therapist.
Mark
L. Sundberg
Behavior Analysts, Inc specializes in teaching language to children with
autism. They will conduct workshops but can expensive and hard to get but have
heard their VB workshops are worth
it. This web page is not working right now?
Vince
Carbone
Applied Verbal Behavior is good to
be used with ABA. You can find his schedule at his site.
He is also with Behavior Analysts, Inc
Play
Therapies
The
Miller Method
Combines physical play, speech and other modalities to treat autism. "We
expand and transform limited reality systems and we enrich the child's
repertoire by introducing new ones through spheric activity. When, through
their work at the Center, the children learn to tolerate
"stretching" their reality systems, or to accept new ones via
repetitive spheres of activity"
The Greenspan Method
Please visit Dr. Greenspan's home page at www.stanleygreenspan.com
for more information regarding this method, most known for the term "floortime,"
or visit the Interdisciplinary Council on Developmental and Learning Disorders
pages at www.icdl.com. We have used
techniques similar to this for play.
COMPUTER
RELATED
Tools
and Resources
There a lot of other links on my Home Program Page
for other learning web sites.
Do To Learn
A new web site, supported by the National Institutes of Health, has free
activities and games designed to help children and adults with diagnosed
disorders such as autism, learning disabilities, and ADD. This site contains
information for parents and teachers and tools such as printable picture
cards. Check this site regularly for changes.
Laureate
Learning Systems
Computer software to help with language and problem solving.
Fast ForWord by Scientific Learning
Corporation This program, targeted at improving language and auditory systems,
has been documented by this company as an appropriate tool for children with
autism. Their premise is that "A child who does not
recognize and process word sounds accurately will not be able to make the
right associations between letter representations and spoken language."
THERE
ARE MORE THINGS THAT SHOULD BE ADDED TO THIS PAGE BUT IT IS A WORK IN PROGRESS
AS I LEARN ABOUT THEM. I AM CURRENTLY LOOKING AT MORE COMPUTER RELATED
TREATMENTS AND MORE MEDICAL/BIOLOGICAL TREATMENTS.
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