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Sent: Saturday, April 05, 2003 8:39 PM
Subject: Autism Canada Foundation - News Release

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact: Cynthia Zahoruk, Director - Autism Canada Foundation

Date: April 1, 2003

Email: czahoruk@autismcanada.org

Website: www.autismcanada.org

Phone: 905-331-4480
 

"Multi-discipline" treatment approach offers hope for recovery from autism."

As parents, we all have high hopes for our children.  We hope that our children will be successful as adults, have a lot of friends, find a soul mate and be happy in their lives.  When parents are told that their child has Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), it is immensely devastating and all those dreams seem shattered.  Many autistic children will never learn how to speak, and many parents of autistic children may never hear their child utter the words "I love you".

Autism Canada Foundation aims to provide parents with information about all biomedical, nutritional and behavioural treatments.  The organization's founding directors have autistic children that have made very significant gains with these therapies and some even losing their ASD diagnosis. "Our children have recovered from many of the symptoms of autism through the use of a "multi-discipline" treatment program" says Cynthia Zahoruk, a director of Autism Canada Foundation and parent of a child diagnosed with ASD.  "We believe that parents should combine biomedical, nutritional, and behavioural modalities together when treating their children with ASD.  It is through this approach, that their children will have the best chance of recovery."

Autistic Spectrum Disorder is currently estimated by the National Institute of Health to occur in 1 in 270 children and in some areas 1 in 150 children. "Autism has become an epidemic that will cripple our social support system if we do not put more effort into finding a cure." emphasizes Ms. Zahoruk.  "Autistic Spectrum Disorder has become more common than childhood cancer and childhood diabetes, yet it gets a fraction of the money for research and is putting enormous demands on our educational system. Furthermore, since autism has no socioeconomic limits, many families go without access to the most basic treatments."

Autism impacts normal brain development, leaving most individuals with communication problems, difficulty with typical social interactions, prone to repeating specific patterns of behaviour, and a markedly restricted repertoire of activity and interests.  Autistic children are often quite normal cognitively but their inability to communicate leaves them with behavioural and social problems.  The frustration of not being able to understand language makes many of these children turn away from normal social situations and retreat into "their own world".

Early identification and treatment is key to possible recovery from ASD.  Family doctors often find it difficult to inform a child's parents that they suspect something like autism, because it is potentially a very traumatic realization for the parents.  "When I first recognized that my child was having language problems and sought professional help I was told by the doctor that we should "wait and see" what happens" adds Zahoruk, " in retrospect, waiting was our biggest mistake, because we lost 9 to 12 months of treatment time during a critical period of our child's development".

Parents and physicians need to recognize the early symptoms of Autistic Spectrum Disorder when a child is as young as 18 months, and this underscores the importance of primary care physicians -- the first in the continuum of care. The informed family doctor can put these patients on a path that offers hope.  Autism Canada has developed the early warning brochure "Is this your child?" which describes the first signs of autism and will help to convince parents to find a doctor specializing in developmental disorders, such as a developmental pediatrician.  The foundation has started to distribute these awareness brochures to child-care providers, doctors and information centres throughout Ontario and have plans to send them Canada wide.  "We want to empower parents to trust their instincts, and if they suspect something is wrong with their child's development, they should find someone who will listen to them!"

Empowerment is found in knowledge and understanding, with this in mind the organization has developed a website (www.autismcanada.org) as a way to give parents the knowledge about the many cutting edge treatment options available. "The website is our most efficient and cost effective way to deliver up-to-date information to people, especially those who are geographically distant from more populated areas." adds Ms. Zahoruk.  "The first visitors to our website were from Yellowknife and a remote northern Ontario town".  Service providers from all over Canada can register on the website in an effort to establish a database of treatment specialists and make it easier for parents to find help for any treatment they wish to pursue".

In the group's logo, the phrase "Reaching for truth" represents a major goal: to present unbiased, truthful information about all treatments for autism.  "We have talked to many front-line health and education representatives that know very little about biomedical and nutritional treatments for autism and these are the same people directing the treatment programs of newly diagnosed children. These parents are usually directed towards implementing an Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) program, also known as a behaviour modification program, and little else."

ABA is a fundamental treatment for autism, but most, if not all individuals will benefit far more by combining this with other effective treatments such as special diets, heavy metal detoxification, vitamin supplementation, immune therapy, and more.  "It isn't right that parents are not provided with accurate information about other treatment options." said Zahoruk. Parents need to have all the facts to make informed decisions for their children.  Parents have a right and an obligation to consider all possible forms of intervention, including those, which may not yet have won the stamp of approval from whatever person, or governing body feels qualified to pass judgment on these interventions .

There are other scientifically validated therapies for autism, which Autism Canada recommends all parents try.  Many are proven safe and would not require a doctor's assistance.   Vitamin therapy, gluten-free and casein-free diets, anti-fungal treatment, auditory integration training and other successful interventions are all worth investigating. "It is a major mistake to think of ABA as being competitive with, rather than complementary to, many of these interventions. These are treatments with good scientific and statistical evidence to support their effect."

Of the 18 studies showing vitamin B6 and magnesium to be effective, 11 employed the double-blind procedure. Further, in addition to using soft behavioral and observational criteria such as were employed in ABA evaluation studies, 10 of the studies of B6 and magnesium measured the presence of abnormal substances in the blood and urine of autistic children, and found the B6/magnesium to have improved the children's metabolism. Five studies of B6/magnesium in autism have shown normalization of brain wave activity in autistic children. These are hard, objective, scientifically replicable findings.

The situation is similar with regard to the effectiveness of the casein-free and gluten-free diet. There are over 40 clinical studies that have documented the presence of abnormal substances in the urine of autistic children.  The level of these substances in the children's urine improved and the children's behavior improved when these special diets are implemented.

Behaviour modification (ABA) is effective for most children who suffer from autism, but it doesn't address the underlying cause of the disorder.  There are many biomedical and nutritional treatments commonly done in countries such as the United States that begin to look for these underlying causes.  Unfortunately, these treatments are not well represented in Canada and if they are not supported by a large enough lobby then the medical science community will not consider them important enough for research.

Harvard University is currently establishing a medical protocol to redefine autism as a biological condition rather than a psychological condition.  This is extremely important for autism research, as there is significantly more funding available to medical science and it is medical science that will find a cause and a cure for this rapidly growing epidemic.

To date, it has been parents who have been the best investigators in looking for both causes of autism and for treatments, "We are hoping, with the help of determined parents like us, that we can bring about a change in how we treat autism and start directing more medical research towards a cure. and we can only do that if more parents try these biomedical treatments and see the positive results". Zahoruk adds

"We have recently organized a powerful training workshop for parents, physicians, ABA therapists, speech pathologists, occupational therapists, and other members of the medical community.  "Open Windows Essential Training" was developed to help to "open windows of hope for children with developmental disorders."

Dr. Jeff Bradstreet, M.D., F.A.A.F.P. will host the workshop along with his colleague Dr. Jerry Kartzinel, M.D., of the Florida based International Child Development Re source Center (ICDRC).  Both Dr. Bradstreet and Dr. Kartzinel have children that are recovering from autism.  They have dedicated their lives and their practice to researching new and effective treatments to combat the disorder.  They currently see over 1600 children with autism worldwide.  Dr. Bradstreet spoke recently at the Congressional Hearings in Washington in relation to Autism and Vaccine safety.

The 2-day workshop focuses on effectively combining biomedical, nutritional and behavioural treatments and therapies.  It will teach participants which laboratory diagnostic tests should be performed, how to implement special diets effectively, detoxify heavy metals, eliminate chronic bowel problems, deal with problem behaviours, and much, much more.  There will be information on up to date treatments for "metallothionien dysfunction" which is the body's inability to eliminate toxic substances, and exciting new treatments like Neurofeedback.  There will be ample opportunity to speak directly to the doctors and other guest speakers about specific problems with your child's symptoms.

"This workshop allows parents a fantastic opportunity to learn from and speak to these well known, sought after, doctors, without having to travel 1800 miles to their clinic in Florida. I recommend it to any parent, even those that have tried some of these treatments already.  Dr. Bradstreet and Dr. Kartzinel have access to cutting edge treatment and have a wealth of information to give to us.  Because they too are parents of autistic children, they have a distinctive passion about their work.  They know first hand what other parents are going through and living with.  It is a very informative and interactive workshop." adds Zahoruk

One of the guest speakers, Stephen Shore, was diagnosed with atypical autism at 4 years old and his doctors recommended institutionalization.  With much help from his parents, teachers and friends, Stephen is now married and currently completing his doctoral degree in Special Education at Boston University.  Mr. Shore is an inspiration to parents and professionals everywhere.

Another guest, Karyn Seroussi, recovered her son from ASD through the strict use of a gluten-free and casein-free diet. Ms. Seroussi is the author of the book titled "Unraveling the Mystery of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorder - A Mother's journey of Research and Recovery."

Dr. Lynda Thompson, a Toronto psychologist and author of "The A.D.D.Book" is a world expert specializing in Neurofeedback treatment will also speak at the workshop.  Neurofeedback is a method of training, which uses the latest computer technology to teach people with developmental disorders such as autism and A.D.D. to maintain focus and concentration. The goal of the treatment is to improve mental flexibility so that a person can produce a mental state appropriate to a specific situation.

Open Windows Essential Training is being held at the Library Lecture Theatre at Ryerson University, on Saturday June 21st & Sunday June 22nd.  Information on fees and pre-registration can be found by visiting the website at www.autismcanada.org  or by calling 905-332-4766

Autism Canada Foundation is a registered Canadian charitable organization that directs its efforts to finding a cause and a cure for Autistic Spectrum Disorder.
 
 

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