There are many different therapies that are regularly proposed as effective in treating autism. Some of these have been proven effective in a research setting and some have not. A therapy does not have to be proven effective in order to be effective. Sometimes many years must pass and many different experiments and studies have to be performed before enough evidence has accumulated to indicate that a given therapy is effective for treating autism. Scientists and doctors are constantly striving to find safe and effective ways to treat autism, however. So, if years have passed since a therapy has been tried and no peer-reviewed research has been published supporting the effectiveness of the therapy, then there is reason to doubt the therapy is effective.
Many physicians and health insurance providers are reluctant to recommend therapies that have not been proven effective by scientific study. This is because they are reluctant to waste time and money on a therapeutic approach that they are not certain will work. Instead, they rely upon effective therapies that have met rigorous standards as demonstrated by well thought out experiments.
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Please comment on this autism topic.
Responding to applied behavior analysis (ABA)
Jun 29, 2011 by AnonymousABA is good for teaching discrete skills to kids with autism. Actually, there are conflicting analyses of the ABA effectiveness literature....and generalization is still a major challenge. ANd, with ABA, a teacher can focus entirely on nonfunctional skills in isolation with ABA.
THere is now growing evidence of the usefulness of developmental interventions for kids on the spectrum, such as DIR. I think a combination of therapies, as DIR and ABA can help a child learn to read, for example, and also to relate and connect with other people.
Responding to Social Thinking
Dec 17, 2010 by AnonymousSocial Thinking by WInner is a nice concept and great for therapists who need a recipe for treating social communication skills. However, much more research must be conducted in order to determine the true benefit of this curriculum, as well as to demonstrate that it is in fact evidence-based. Further, research should be conducted by outside parties---not just those who have developed the program.
Responding to Social Thinking
Dec 17, 2010 by AnonymousSocial Thinking by WInner is a nice concept and great for therapists who need a recipe for treating social communication skills. However, much more research must be conducted in order to determine the true benefit of this curriculum, as well as to demonstrate that it is in fact evidence-based. Further, research should be conducted by outside parties---not just those who have developed the program.
Nutrition and Essential Fatty Acids May Help Verbal Apraxia and Autism
Dec 2, 2009 by AnonymousCan nutrition help verbal skills in children with autism? A study reported the August 2009 issue of Alternative Therapies says yes, for some children. Combined vitamin E and omega 3 therapy may help a type of verbal apraxia (a type of speech problem) that may be linked to food allergies and nutritional problems.
Children with verbal apraxia have trouble pronouncing words and may have severe speech problems. Many scientists have thought that verbal apraxia is a brain disorder. This study suggests that verbal apraxia may also be related to metabolism differences and nutritional problems.
Metabolism is the process of making energy from food. Metabolism is a complex system of enzymes, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that work together to digest food and turn it into energy that the body can use. People likely have a wide range of metabolic differences. Some of those differences can be quite large for some individuals. In this study, they suggest that some children with autism may have metabolism differences that affect how they process foods, and how their brain works.
What did the study show? This study tested 187 children with verbal apraxia, and many of them also had autism. All of the children took 400-3,000 International Units of vitamin E daily. They also took 1-3 grams of polyunsaturated fats (including omega 3 fatty acids) per day.
Almost all of the families (97%) reported improvements in speech, imitation, coordination, eye contact, and other skills with vitamin E and omega-3 therapy. There were few side effects reported during the length of the study.
The authors also described blood test results for nutritional information about 26 of the children. They reported low carnitine levels, high anti-gluten antibodies (suggesting a gluten allergy), low vitamin D levels, and fat absorption problems in most of the children they tested. They described how nutrition and metabolism might be different in some children with autism.
What do these results mean for children with verbal apraxia and autism? The results are exciting because 97% of the children showed improvements, and there were few side effects. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it? But it’s not quite as perfect as it sounds.
There are some major limitations of this study. First of all, the researchers asked parents to give their subjective opinion of improvements. The parents knew they were in a study. Although they were given specific improvements to look for, there is a possibility of bias in favor of reporting a good result.
Secondly, they did not use placebo controls. All of the parents and children knew they were getting the supplements. There is the possibility of the “placebo effect” which is when people taking placebo (“sugar pills”) report feeling better or actually show improvements. Many think it is the power of the mind/body connection that somehow influences how they feel or even how their body physically responds. There is scientific evidence for brain connections to the immune and endocrine systems to support these observations. It is possible that, in this study, the children and/or parents were hopeful that the supplements would work, and that influenced the outcome. There was a placebo effect observed in a recent study of citalopram and autism in children.
Third, the supplements may be helpful for only a subset of children with verbal apraxia. The researchers chose children with verbal apraxia who also had metabolism differences….
What is the bottom line for omega-3 and vitamin E from this study? In spite of the shortcomings of this study, the results are very promising. Children with verbal apraxia may benefit from vitamin E and omega-3 supplements, which may get their metabolism on a better track. And researchers will continue to explore the nutrition/metabolism link with brain function. Good nutrition is likely to be important for many brain functions, not just verbal apraxia.