Fad Treatments for Autism on the Rise
August 21, 2007
(Ivanhoe Newswire) — As more cases of autism are diagnosed, more dangerous fad treatments hit the market.
A new report from The Ohio State University finds ineffective or harmful treatments are on the rise. Researchers are concerned that because there is no cure for autism, many parents are willing to try anything to help their child.
When graduate students did a Google search for the phrase “autism treatment,” there were more than 2.2 million matches.
Some of the newer, more popular fad treatments for autism include special diets or nutritional supplements such as mega-doses of Vitamins C and B6, supplements containing fatty acids like omega-3s, and eliminating dairy and wheat products.
“We’re not saying that all of these treatments don’t work or that they are all dangerous,” doctoral student in special education, Tracy Kettering, Ohio State University, was quoted as saying. “But the research hasn’t been done to suggest that most of them are effective or even safe.”
The report says the only treatment that has been shown to benefit autism patients long-term is called Early Intensive Behavioral Intervention (EIBI). It is a very structured and time-consuming approach in which children with autism are taught first to imitate their teachers. EIBI is one-on-one treatments with the child for up to 40 hours a week for several years.
Because EIBI is expensive and difficult for many parents to use, researchers say other therapies may look attractive to them. But they stress it takes years to test treatments for autism and that many fad treatments used today would never even be approved for testing because they are too dangerous.
SOURCE: 115th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association in San Francisco, Calif., Aug. 17-20, 2007