Autism Treatment Overview
This brief overview will provide important guidelines for a child just diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Having a child with special needs requires patience, persistence and focus. In order to support your child’s recovery, it is important to think of treatment as a three-pointed approach including:
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Traditional behavioral therapies
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Biomedical therapies
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Self care routine for the whole family
Traditional Behavioral Therapies:
This category includes the following interventions:
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Applied behavior analysis (ABA)
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Speech therapy
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Occupational therapy
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Auditory integration therapy
These interventions are designed to help modify behavior, develop and improve verbal communication, work on gross and fine motor coordination and improve processing of verbal language. Your child will need as many of these therapies as is warranted based on his/her symptoms.
Biomedical Therapies:
It is important that your child receive both behavioral and biomedical treatment. Just doing one or the other is just not enough. ASD is simply a label applied to children with a certain constellation of symptoms.
Biomedical research is fast uncovering a growing list of medical conditions that are playing a role in the development of ASD or mimicking ASD. These may include:
It is important that you do not let the general AMA consensus that ‘Autism is not treatable’ be the reason for not treating your child. There are many doctors trained in the biomedical approach to autism. New research findings that contradict old established norms in medicine typically take many years, if not decades, to finally become established as fact. Many pediatricians may not have these new findings on their radar unless they actually specialize in treating kids on the autistic spectrum.
It is important, therefore, for you to take an active role in reading the materials and references (all based on information published in medical journals) on this website as well as others, so that you can decide your best approach.
Summary of Biomedical Treatments for Autism
This article by Dr. James Adams provides an excellent overview of the "Defeat Autism Now" biomedical treatment steps. It will familiarize you with many of the treatments that may be recommended for your child. Please keep in mind that this outline is general in scope and needs to be tailored individually to fit each child. Furthermore, as new information becomes available, our team may choose to skip or modify certain portions of this outline.
Keeping Your Family Healthy and Supported
A child diagnosed as having special needs can be a huge burden on a family. It is important that caretakers also take care of themselves. Healthy diet, getting plenty of rest and an adequate support system can be tremendous aids in helping you help your child. Enlisting the help of friends and family while networking with other parents of special needs kids can help you along the long road to recovery. Make sure you spend enough time with your spouse and other kids also. This part of the pyramid is just as important as the other two to form a solid base that will help your child reach the point of recovery.
Dr. Patel has been a Godsend for me. Over the years, I had been to see many doctors and had never come up with any "real" answers. I felt so grateful that, through him, I have finally learned the core reason for my symptoms...