Research summaries for autism therapy: case study

definition of case study: Intensive study of a single child with the intention of generalizing the findings to a larger population.

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Vitamin C therapy may counter some of the toxic effects of high levels of vitamin A that may follow an infection.

This case study describes a boy with autism who had severe pain in the right hip, fatigue, skin rash, and sore gums after being sick with a fever, cold and cough. These bone symptoms appeared three months after the cold was over. The authors suggest that the viral cold increased the level of vitamin A in the blood to toxic levels. The high levels of vitamin A could then have caused low levels of vitamin C. They describe this idea as being counter to the theory that children with autism have low levels of vitamin A. Read more...

Chelation therapy may result in death.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not approve the use of chelation therapy to treat autism. This case study describes a 5-year-old boy with autism who was given chelation therapy. The boy died from a heart attack. This is the second case of a child dying from chelation therapy. The authors conclude that doctors should know that there are two types of EDTA chelation therapies and that one is more dangerous than the other. Read more...

Olanzapine may help children with anorexia nervosa and autism to overcome their anorexia.

Many patients with anorexia nervosa also have pervasive developmental disorder. Anorexia and autism share symptoms of obsession and compulsion. Olanzapine is often used to treat anorexia because it causes weight gain. This case study describes a 17-year-old girl in Japan who had a 1-year history of anorexia and was treated with drug therapy. She had no real language or motor delays, but she did lack social skills. Olanzapine therapy helped her to gain weight. Read more...

Psychotherapy may help children with autism to overcome anxiety and free them to be children.

This case study describes a five-year-old girl with autism who received psychotherapy three times a week. The author believes that the key to the girl's growth was helping her to control her anxiety. The girl also needed help to release her focus on the death of an uncle in a plane crash. The author also suggests that the mother's hard labor and the hard birth of the girl gave the girl a sense of terror from birth. At the end of treatment the girl still had trouble controlling her behavior. Read more...

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