DAN (which, by the way, stands for Defeat Autism Now, a name I really hate) are basically snake oil salesmen. If your child has actual physical symptoms, you treat those physically, but there is no evidence that autism can be helped by vitamins, chelation, special diets or whatnot. And some of those treatments can have awful side effects - awhile back an autistic boy named Tariq died due to side effects from chelation given to him by DAN.
If the treatment is safe, no harm in trying it, but don't take DAN's word for safety - talk to a reputable doctor, and do your own research.
Reharding early intervention, the treatment that has the best support of the literature is Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA). It's a teaching methodology that breaks things down into small steps and teaches each step, rewarding correct answers. So for example to get a child who babbles a bit to start talking, they'd pick something the kid wants to communicate (eg 'I want a cookie') and first reward them for making any sound, then for making sounds similar to 'cookie', then for actually saying the word 'cookie', then gradually add on words like 'want cookie', and so forth. They also prompt answers a lot, then gradually use less and less prompts eg fading from physically moving the kid's hands to just giving a verbal hint.
The research shows that intensive ABA before age five on average tends to raise the kid's tested IQ score about 10-20 points (which might just be better compliance, or might be a real increase). It won't cure the kid, but it could make a low functioning kid be medium functioning instead, or a medium functioning kid high functioning. Incidentally, you'll often hear that the kid should get 40 hours a week of ABA, but 30 hours works better and is more manageable (too much causes stress that impedes learning). There is also some concern that ABA may be teaching skills that are unhealthy for autistic child - eg training a child who finds eye contact painful to look you in the eye anyway. My advice would be to leave alone the behaviors that are weird but not harmful, like stimming or avoiding eye contact, and focus on building skills and reducing harmful behaviors (eg self-injury or aggression). Also, though early intervention is important, different outcomes are only noticed if you have a difference of age of four years or more. Waiting one year won't make a measurable difference in the child's response to ABA. There are a lot of marketing types trying to make out ABA to be a lot more effective and crucial than it really is, so ignore them and look at the research instead.
Also, be aware that without any intervention, roughly a third of autistic kids go through a dramatic developmental advance around 4-6 years old. Often this results in ineffective treatments getting credit for something that would've happened anyway. It's important not to listen to individual case studies, but instead to statistics. (For example, in ABA, about two thirds of kids make the developmental advance.)
Above all, remember that autistic or not, high functioning or low functioning, your son is a wonderful human being and deserves parents who love him unconditionally. Be careful that, in trying to help him function better, you don't inadvertently send the message that he needs to earn your love by acting normal. Focus on his strengths and his good qualities.
01 Aug 2011, 1:19 am
