Alicia Archuleta/The Leaf-Chronicle Sarah Odendahl, 5, and her mother, Mary, sing "Itsy Bitsy Spider." Sarah has been diagnosed with autisim and attends regular therapy sessions.   Alicia Archuleta/The Leaf-Chronicle Sarah Odendahl, 5, and occupational therapist Jodi Ball cheer as Sarah works a puzzle. Odendahl is autistic and attends therapy at Full Spectrum Therapy.   Alicia Archuleta/The Leaf-Chronicle Occupational therapist Jodi Ball helps Sarah out of a swing during a session.

Autism is a baffling disorder and, because it is considered irreversible, a hard diagnosis for a parent to take.

"It's hard to have someone tell you something is wrong with your child," said Mary Odendahl, whose 5-year-old daughter, Sarah, is autistic.

"It breaks your heart to think that you could have a kid that the world doesn't accept and doesn't love," said Christine Heeren, whose 4-year-old son, Michael, is autistic.

Wednesday, scientists, physicians and parents of autistic children will gather in Washington, D.C., for "Know the Cause, Find the Cure," to pressure the federal government to put money and resources into autism research. Because the numbers of people affected by autism are rising, from an estimated 1 in 10,000 people in 1990 to 1 in 150 today, groundbreaking treatments for the disorder may soon be discovered.

Even now, there are many treatments that help autistic people live happier lives as children and have the chance to live productive lives as adults.

Treatments

Dr. Quentin Humberd said he has never seen a child cured of autism. Humberd, who is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics to diagnose and treat developmental and behavioral conditions, is working with 27 local children who have autism. Early intervention can help them become much more functional, potentially able to hold a job as an adult, he said.

Humberd is medical director for Premier Medical Group's new Center for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. His approach involves helping parents understand a child's level of functioning and figuring out how to improve that level.

In some way, a bridge must be created between the autistic child and the rest of the world.

"They cannot get past that that keeps them separate," said Andrea Sovern, whose 4 1/2-year-old son, Kolin, is autistic. "We have to find out what's keeping them separate."

Applied behavior analysis

Applied behavior analysis, or repetitively teaching children the relevance of our world, can be highly effective for younger children, Humberd said. Kolin has improved with this method, Sovern said.

There is an Internet network of parents who discuss autism, treatments and the specific problems they are having with their children. As a member of one of Yahoo's 517 groups on autism, Christine Heeren, of Long Island, N.Y., was alerted to last week's article in The Leaf-Chronicle about the possible causes of autism. Like Sovern, Heeren is a military wife, trying to raise her autistic son, often in her husband's absence. Heeren said verbal behavior, a form of applied behavior analysis, works very well for her son.

"It makes sense. It's based on science and it's parent-friendly," Heeren said. "You don't have to sit at the table and torture the child."

Together with a therapist, Heeren uses reinforcements. Her son's favorite is for her to cheer, "Yay!" This encourages him to speak.

Lana Barnes, a therapist at Full Spectrum Therapy, said physical, occupational and speech therapies can help autistic children a great deal. Autism is a neurological condition, and therapy can help the brain mature, she said.

"The brain is very pliable, especially in the little ones," Barnes said.

Drugs and detoxification

Although drugs are not approved by the FDA to treat autism, some drugs can help control its symptoms, such as Ritalin, Prozac and anti-psychotic drugs, Humberd said.

Sovern said anti-psychotic drugs were suggested for Kolin, but she and her husband could not stand the thought of putting such strong chemicals in their then-2-year-old son's body.

Sovern, like many other parents, is convinced that mercury poisoning from childhood vaccines caused Kolin's autism. Instead of drugs, the Soverns used controversial chelation therapy, which involves administering alpha lipoic acids every four hours to remove mercury and other toxins from the system. Immediately, Kolin began to improve, Sovern said.

"Kolin has come so far. It's just amazing," she said. "I'm so proud of him."

Dietary changes

Sovern said they found a doctor who suggested a milk- and wheat-free diet. Gluten (in milk) and casein (in grains) are common proteins that many people believe have an opiate-like effect on autistic children. By removing these proteins from the diet, parents can remove a source of disorientation.

Odendahl started Sarah on a gluten-free, casein-free diet last May.

"That has helped tremendously," she said. "Two days later, I saw an improvement in Sarah. Her vocabulary has probably tripled. Her eye contact is totally different."

Heeren is a firm believer in the benefits of a gluten-free, casein-free diet, and said parents should go to the Web site www.gfcfdiet.com to learn about it.

"If a family did the diet correctly, my guess is it would help 90 percent of the kids out there," she said.

Studies indicate that autistic children have difficulty digesting food.

In addition to a modified diet, Kolin takes Diflucan to combat an overgrowth of candida albicans, or yeast, in his system.

"Incompletely digested food in the intestinal tract becomes a breeding ground for yeasts, bacteria and other pathogenic organisms, stressing the immune system," according to Biology of Autism at www. autismcoach.com/biology_of_autism.htm.

Improvements

Among Kolin's improvements, Sovern lists: