Help With Autism

Child psychiatrist Stanley Greenspan developed a treatment for autism known as Floortime. Both a method and a philosophy, Floortime gets its name because the parents get down on the floor with the child in order to encourage communication with him at his level. The Floortime method does not focus on speech, motor, or cognitive skills, but emphasizes emotional development because they are all interrelated.  Greenspan believes that an autistic child can build a larger circle of interaction accompanied by an adult who engages the child at his most current developmental level, participates in the child’s activities and following his lead, building on the individual strengths of the child.  Once Floortime becomes a mutally shared process between parent and child, the parent is instructed how to move the child toward the milestones, known as “opening and closing circles of communication”. 

The ultimate goal of Floortime is to help the child achieve the six basic milestones necessary to master emotional and intellectual maturity for her level.  Greenspan defines the six milestones as: self-regulation and interest in the world; intimacy and love for the world of human interpersonal relations; two-way communication; complex communication; emotional ideas; and emotional thinking.  The autistic child has a challenging time achieving these rites of developmental passage without treatment, due to difficulty processing and responding to sensory information, and sometimes poor physical control.
 

There is a swimming pool treatment on the market called BioGuard. Maxam-RX’s nutritional supplement BioGuard is very different—it is meant to support the body’s immune system and balance its chemistry to resist invasion.  It is in the Candida cleanse family of products.

The ingredients of BioGuard consist of cell types found in our normal physiology and the body reacts to them as such—the “smart molecules” that can actually reproduce, repair and purify themselves.  BioGuard also promotes better water absorption, the body’s ability to absorb nutrients more effectively, and natural elimination of toxins.
 

 Some consider autism to be a disorder of the antibiotic era, because as antibiotic usage becomes more widespread, so do rates of autism.   Antibiotics kill bacteria, but ultimately replace them with certain yeasts that are found in the intestinal, mouth, and female genital tract.   These yeasts then turn into toxic compounds within the nervous system.  In a healthy person, the liver would eliminate them before they were able to affect and slow the brain.  Certain chemicals in the diet are also known to affect brain development, and particularly when combined with the inner yeasts promoted by use of antibiotics.  The developmental delays seen in autistic children, particularly in the speech centers of the brain, may be linked to the above process. 

Many believe that eliminating casein and gluten from the diet will slow the development of inner yeasts and be an effective treatment for autism.  Some also believe that a sugar-free diet is helpful because sugar may inhibit the immune system and its ability to fight yeast development.

Rett syndrome symptoms include cognitive impairment and difficulty with socialization, which generally improves by the time the child enters school.  The rate of head growth is slower in those who have Rett’s and may include microcephaly (a very small head) as well as small hands and feet with repetitive hand movements such as wringing.  Girls with Rett syndrome are prone to stomach problems and up to 80% also have seizures.  About half of females are not ambulatory.  Scoliosis, failure to grow, constipation, and lack of verbal skills are also very common manifestations of Rett’s syndrome, which occurs much more commonly in girls.

Rett syndrome is one of the disorders commonly identified as being under the umbrella of autism, along with Asperger’s syndrome, sensory integration disorder, and several others. 
Autism treatments are always changing as autism awareness becomes more prevalent.

Government researchers are pushing to have an official federal study on chelation therapy.  Chelation removes heavy metals from the body which may have been caused by vaccines.

The push for finding the positive effects of chelation is brought on by parents of autistic children who feel that the government isn’t doing enough.  This is also coming as several legislative sessions have ended with some states allowing insurance companies to deny coverage for autistic childre

 Autism treatment news: Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic of UPMC have received $3 million from the National Institute of Mental Health to conduct a national study of the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children with autism spectrum disorders.

“ADHD symptoms are common in children with autism, but children with autism often do not respond well to stimulant medications, the conventional treatment for ADHD,” said Benjamin Handen, Ph.D., principal investigator of the study and associate professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

In this 10-week clinical trial, which will start enrolling patients in September, Pitt researchers and colleagues from the University of Rochester and Ohio State University will recruit 144 children ranging in ages from 5 to13 who have autism with ADHD symptoms. The researchers will assess the safety and effectiveness of two treatments: atomoxetine, a nonstimulant medication for treating ADHD, and parent management training in which parents learn how to use behavioral interventions as another form of conventional ADHD treatment.

Market America announced that it is in the development and testing stages of a new line of nutraceutical products that will support the health of children with autism and related neurodevelopmental challenges. Specialized laboratory testing often demonstrates sub-optimal levels of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids in people with autism, which can be addressed with nutritional supplements. Despite these findings, Market America found in its research that parents and health professionals alike are frustrated with the limited nutritional products available in the marketplace.

Market America is working in conjunction with these doctors to develop a regimen of nutraceutical products that will promote a high quality of life for those living with autism.

“It is simply mind-blowing and disheartening when you read the statistics about children afflicted with autism,” said Marty Weissman, executive vice president of Market America.

“One out of every 150 children is diagnosed with autism and 67 new children are diagnosed per day. As a company founded on science based products, it is time that we use our expertise to support the health of these children.”

The conference was held to identify areas that are lacking in autism therapy and how Market America could develop products that meet the special needs of these children.

As we discussed in an earlier post regarding yoga, physical activity can help an autistic child learn focus; it can also help improve their behavior.  This form of autism therapy can require a lot of research, but there are some basic factors to consider: the severity of the child’s behavior and the how simple or complicated the activity is.

Ideally, you’ll want to choose an activity that is rhythmic: running, hopping, or jump-roping.  In addition to yoga, aerobics can also be a great activity.  Many parents have suggested taking aerobic techniques and renaming them to kid-friendlier names and making a game of them. 

Yoga is often thought as a great way to enhance your body and spirit as it works on both the physical and emotional aspects of one’s being.  Parenting a child with autism isn’t easy and many instructors are now offering yoga classes to both parents and autistic children.

The idea is to utilize yoga as a way to help children focus their minds and energy and better deal with their anxiety.  Obviously, this isn’t the end all of therapy, but it can help a great deal.

Yesterday in Florida, Gov. Charlie Crist signed into law a bill that requires insurance companies to cover the cost of autism therapy for children in the state.  According to the law, insurance policies will cover behavioral therapies for autistic children for up to $36,000 a year and a lifetime maximum of $200,000.

The bill passed earlier in the spring and is among several bills that have been introduced in several states around the U.S.