SCHAFER AUTISM REPORT "Healing Autism:

No Finer a Cause on the Planet"

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September 30, 3003 CALENDAR LISTING: EVENTS@doitnow.com

CARE

* WSJ: Lauded School for Autism Draws Charges of Abuse

* Teacher Facing Abuse Charges Cops: 'Physical Assault' on 2 ASD Kids

* How A Combination Of Faith & Science Saved My Son From Autism:

Colin’s Story

RESEARCH

* Language Dysfunction In Epileptic Conditions

* Defining Broader Phenotype Of Autism: Genetic, Brain, & Behavioral

* Converging Evidence For Brain Stem Injury In Autism.

FUNDRAISING

* M.I.N.D. Institute Grand Opening & Walk for Hope

* Autism Groups Join Parents for Full-Page Advertisement in the

Washington Post

COMMENTARY

* More From Dr. Frank Marone on Science

CARE

WSJ: Lauded School for Autism Draws Charges of Abuse

Randolph, Mass. -- During a weekend visit home in early July 2000, Scott Tedeman took off his shirt to get ready to shower. His father, John, immediately saw bloody abrasions on his son's back. John Tedeman says Scott, then 18, had similar injuries on his forehead and elbow, and looked as if he had been on the "losing end of a vicious fight."

A state and local police investigation determined that an instructor at Scott's school had dragged Scott by the ankles across rough institutional carpeting when he balked at repeatedly making his bed as part of a drill, according to a police report. The instructor was charged with assault and battery on a disabled person but returned to his native Japan before he could stand trial.

Scott Tedeman is autistic. The school he attended, Boston Higashi, is known and widely respected world-wide for treating a disorder that afflicts as many as 1.5 million Americans and has no known cause or cure. But Boston Higashi's success comes amid a number of complaints that the school's treatment practices have led to abuse. Since 1995, police and various Massachusetts agencies have received at least 17 abuse complaints against school staff.

Boston Higashi is one of several autism-treatment centers to face allegations of abuse recently. Last month, a Pennsylvania woman claimed that her autistic son died at a Bancroft Neurohealth Inc. facility in New Jersey after his immune system was weakened through excessive use of arm restraints and overmedication. The Camden County Prosecutor's Office is investigating the case, a spokesman says. A spokesman for Bancroft Neurohealth denies the family's charge. Also last month, the chairwoman of a South Carolina autism-treatment facility quit, saying the facility failed to investigate complaints of abuse. The facility, the Babcock Center Inc., has denied her accusations.

Array of Therapies

Autism comprises a spectrum of mystifying developmental deficits, often including obsessiveness, profound withdrawal, self-abuse and striking out at others. Diagnoses of autism have risen nearly threefold in the past decade, and an increasing number of families -- forced to choose from a bewildering array of therapies -- are in an often-desperate search for help. Some treatments seem bizarre or even cruel, such as the use of restraints and electric shocks. A current fad calls for feeding autistic children a diet consisting solely of wild game.

The Higashi approach, which a Japanese elementary-school teacher developed in the 1960s, shuns medication and restraining devices. It emphasizes repetition of tasks, strict schedules and intense physical exercise.

In recent years, doctors, educators and researchers have lauded the Higashi philosophy as pioneering and humane. At Boston Higashi, students have been trained to curb their dangerous behavior, sit attentively in class and even perform in a jazz band. There are now five Higashi schools -- in the U.S., Japan, South Korea, Uruguay and England -- and elements of the approach have been adopted elsewhere. Boston Higashi, which enrolled 143 students from around the world this year, turned away dozens of applicants.

But two separate incidents on July 7 resulted in the school firing two instructors and in pending police charges against one of them. Randolph Police Det. James Hayward said the instructor who will be criminally charged was caught on a school surveillance tape pulling a student by the hair on three occasions for five to six seconds each time. The second incident involved an instructor forcing a student to do push-ups for inappropriate behavior, in violation of school policy. Mr. Hayward said there were several instructors in the room when the student was made to do push-ups and none appeared "shocked," leading him to believe it was a common practice. He said he didn't view the push-up incident as a criminal matter. The school reported the incidents after a staff person saw them on the surveillance tape.

Another teacher was charged with assault last year for punching a student in the stomach and for beating another student with a hairbrush. The teacher was found not guilty but was fired after an internal school investigation concluded she had abused at least one of the students. Two years ago, still another teacher, Masataka Kunihiro, was charged with assault and battery on a disabled person for allegedly dragging Scott Tedeman by his ankles, leaving wounds on the student's back. Mr. Kunihiro resigned under pressure three months after the incident and returned to Japan. Scott's parents are suing Boston Higashi, which denies wrongdoing. Mr. Kunihiro couldn't be reached for comment.

Robert Fantasia, director of Boston Higashi, says "cases of abuse have been isolated" in the school's 15 years of operation, during which it has educated 350 students. "In almost all of the cases," he says, "the school itself has been the one to report the problem to the proper authorities and to initiate disciplinary and corrective procedures." The school conducts thorough background checks on employees, he says, but "can never guarantee that a human being won't falter under the best of circumstances." He says the school is safe for students because the few staff members who have been abusive were fired and no instructor "has injured a student twice."

Mr. Fantasia, 60 years old, says the school "balances the highest expectations for students to reach their full potential" with "an environment of caring and love" and that students "are absolutely safe" there.

Passionate Defenders

Many parents remain passionate defenders of Boston Higashi. Miriam Hurwitz of Brooklyn, N.Y., says the school is "superior to anything in the entire world." Her 19-year-old daughter, Sarah, was struck on the hand, arms and head with a brush and punched twice in the stomach by a Boston Higashi teacher in May 2001, according to the Disabled Persons Protection Commission, which investigated after two Boston Higashi staff members reported the abuse to the administration. Mrs. Hurwitz says she found the incident "very worrisome" but says it was the fault of one bad employee and doesn't reflect a systemic problem. She says Sarah, who has been a Boston Higashi student for 10 years, no longer needs tranquilizers to sleep and can go for walks without throwing tantrums.

Jean Bowden of Barnstable, Mass., credits Boston Higashi with producing a dramatic improvement in her 15-year-old daughter, Abbie, who she says had been pinned face-down to the floor while in a public-school program. Boston Higashi "saved her life," Mrs. Bowden says.

Virtually all parents interviewed for this article said they were unaware of most of the complaints of abuse at Boston Higashi. The school says confidentiality laws barred it from disclosing complaints to any parents other than those of the children directly involved, although Boston Higashi sent a letter in August to all parents notifying them of the Tedemans' lawsuit and asking for their support. The school says no one has pulled out their children as a result of the disclosure.

The nonprofit school is situated on a 55-acre suburban campus outside Boston. It charges $100,000 a year for residential students. Federal law requires that public-school districts pay the full cost of educating a handicapped child if they don't offer an adequate program.

Boston Higashi was first investigated for claims of abuse shortly after its 1987 founding, when the school's first special-education director quit after a month on the job, saying that some employees were abusive. An investigation by the state Department of Social Services found no abuse. In 1989, the agency conducted another investigation, this time into allegations from students that staffers had punched them and hit them with hairbrushes and sticks, and from parents that they had been denied visits and that food was withheld from their children for misbehavior. The agency said its investigators "concluded that there was reasonable cause to believe" that five children had been abused at the school.

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Teacher Facing Abuse Charges Cops: 'Physical Assault' on 2 ASD Kids Came during summer school

A Bayonne teacher, accused of physically assaulting two children in her summer school classroom, was recently arrested and forced to resign by district officials.

And some parents have already taken steps to sue the district, according to a school attorney.

Dina Lonky, 29, of Seaview Court, a full-time teacher in the autistic program at Woodrow Wilson Community School on West 56th Street, was charged Sept. 13 with child abuse and endangering the welfare of a child, police said.

Upon learning that Lonky was "conducting herself inappropriately," the Bayonne Board of Education decided not to allow her to return to school this year, said Superintendent of Schools Patricia McGeehan.

While the incidents occurred during summer school, Lonky had also been employed by the district during the regular school year.

"The teacher was advised that the administration was going to request that the board terminate her employment," she said. "The teacher opted to resign rather than face termination proceedings."

School officials would not release a phone number for Lonky and she was not listed.

The abuse, involving two 6-year-old boys in the class, allegedly occurred on separate occasions between July and August of this year, according to Bayonne Police Sgt. Brian P. Bracken.

Bracken said he could not specify the type of abuse inflicted on the victims, whose names were not released because of their age. However, he did say that she hurt the boys while trying to curb their bad behavior.

"She graduated beyond the point of just correcting the children," he said.

"It was a physical assault."

Bracken said parents first reported the abuse Aug. 30, at which point police interviewed classroom and school employees who confirmed the allegations.

He said the investigation was drawn out because the children in Lonky's classroom are autistic and have difficulty describing what they witnessed.

A parent, who asked to remain anonymous, told The Jersey Journal she now understands why her 6-year-old son, who was in Lonky's class, refused to go to school during the summer.

"(My son) would cry not to go to school, he didn't want to see Dina," she said, adding that she pulled her son from the program as soon as she learned of Lonky's arrest.

While questioning school employees, investigators learned there are other children who Lonky may have treated improperly, but her actions in those instances may not have been criminal, said Bracken.

The New Jersey Division of Youth and Family Services is investigating those allegations, Bracken said. If DYFS determines there was criminal behavior in the other incidents, the Police Department will take over those cases.

According to Ken Hampton, legal counsel for the Bayonne school district, notice of a tort claim with the Board of Education has been filed. However, he said he did not immediately know how many parents are taking legal action.

Lonky, who was at Woodrow Wilson since she was first appointed in September 1999, was released on $25,000 cash bail.

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How A Combination Of Faith & Science Saved My Son From Autism: Colin’s Story

"What Appeared Moribund, will rise again, like the legendary Phoenix."

The journey of my son’s life continues to be inexplicably entwined with mine–his mother. It began one cold January day in the year 2000.

The spark of Colin–the beginning of his journey back from the dark perplexing world of autism–began that day inside my heart, as I lay huddled crying hopelessly on my dining room floor.

I lay wailing, as only a mother could, realizing that my heart and soul–my beautiful blond haired, brown-eyed 3 _ year old pride and joy–had slipped away from me into a silent puzzling world of his old. That day I learned that, according to the top neurologist and autism expert at Georgetown University, my son was a "high-functioning autistic" child, and would probably be that way forever.

I kept crying, feeling sorry for myself–a single working Mom in the midst of a divorce–all alone to mourn what I felt was all the hopes and dreams I had of having a little buddy, a typically developing child. I didn’ t know where to turn. I felt defeated. I almost gave up and broke down, and accepted Colin’s fate.

But then, I heard a voice. The message, whether it was from God or my subconscious, was simple: "Put Colin first."

It was all I needed to hear.

I decided at that moment that I was going to fight for my son at all costs. I had faith that if no one else could help him (the medical doctors and their offers to drug both Colin and us to cope with autism; the alternative autistic "expert" doctors and their Gluten/Casein free diet, which had already failed to save Colin ,or their expensive, high-dosage, vitamin supplements which I refused to give my son)...then I would break out on my own.

The next morning, I called Colin’s dad. "Pat," I said, "I’m quitting my job.

I’m going to spend all my time, money, and effort on finding out what is wrong with Colin. And when I run out of money, you are going to do the same and support us until we’ve beaten this thing together." There was silence.

"OK," said Pat. "If anyone can save Colin, it’s you. I’m behind you."

And so it was.

Like me, Colin’s dad had faith in our son, and also in me. And our journey with Colin–a journey of recovery–began.

Faith and Science: Keys to Saving Colin

Often people ask me, "How did you know–autism is suppose to be for life–how did you know that you could save him?"

I tell them, it was more than just a mother’s instinct. It was faith and science.

I had faith that there was some reason why my son was slipping away. I had watched my son suffer not only with the typical autistic traits (night terrors, head banging, pervasive or obsessive play, eyes that looked away into space, hyperactivity, speech delays). But I had watched my son suffer through years of diarrhea and GI problems that no one could explain, which doctors call, "autistic diarrhea." Colin had suffered with loose movements and diarrhea on and off since he was 11 months old. No one ever knew why and our pediatricians had always told us to just "cut back on the fruit." But when he was diagnosed with Pervasive Developmental Disorder at age 3, I demanded that we see a GI doctor in addition to the bevy of neurologists and therapists who were analyzing my son.

Despite Colin’s history of GI symptoms (including a protruding stomach, gas, diarrhea, low weight, night terrors), not one of the GI doctors we visited offered to do the traditional blood tests and colonoscopy that children often get when they have GI troubles. This outraged Colin’s dad and me.

"How can our son be expected to develop typically if he isn’t absorbing what he is eating?" I asked Colin’s dad. "And why is it so hard to imagine that Colin may have a true GI disorder in addition to being autistic?"

I had faith that there must be a scientific reason why both my ex and I dreaded feeding our child. "He’s just a different person depending on what I feed him. I am almost scared each meal," said Pat one day to me.

By that January 2001, Colin’s dad and I were just beginning to recognize the true power of food. We put our son on the current alternative autism diet of choice, the Gluten Free Casein Free diet, which is promoted to thousands of other parents like us who knew our autistic children had "food issues." But that January, after being on the GFCF diet for almost 6 months, Colin was still autistic. In fact, even though his night terrors stopped without gluten, his obsessions and head banging got worse.

"If diet is the answer, then how come your son is on it (the GFCF) and still autistic?" asked his neurologist that fateful day. "I know food is the answer," I responded desperately as my son banged his head on the doctor’s stool. "I just haven’t found the right diet yet. I need to understand him better." I had the faith in food all right, but I was missing something essential in the quest to understand my son’s mind and body: science. The GFCF diet tells you if your child has something leaking in your body (undigested wheat and milk protein), than stop eating those foods and you may be cured. This made no sense to me. If my house has a leak and I stop using the hot water...I still have a leak! I wanted to fix that leak.

Thanks to Colin’s leaky gut, he reacted to food as one might to a drug or alcohol! When he ate rice, he ran around the room. When he ate sugary foods, he sometimes bit his hand in pain. And when he ate any cookie–using one of the many "wheat free/gluten free flours" on the market–my son lay down and lined his cars up (pervasive play) and rubbed his belly and then had diarrhea.

"Can’t you make a cookie that won’t make your son sick?" my mother asked me once.

She was right. I felt like a failure for not knowing how to stop his pain.

But instead of guilt, I vowed to not give up until I knew what foods to feed my son without hurting him.

And so, I decided not to just have faith and love for my son, but to listen to what his body was telling me and let that lead me to a possible cure.

And so I began to document, yes–observe and note–my son’s life. I recorded his food, his GI symptoms, his behavior, and his skin patterns.

After three months I analyzed my son’s "data." I concluded that my son was either allergic to all starches and sugars (everything from rice, potatoes, white sugar, corn syrup, etc.) and most raw vegetables...or there was some scientific explanation for all this. I also concluded that this undigested food, was somehow affecting my son’s behavior, his level of functioning, and in effect "intoxicating him" from within.

And then I found, thanks to a friend of mine who was a Celiac (who had also never healed from the gluten free diet), a scientific explanation: The original Celiac diet, a grain free, starch free, and complex sugar-free diet that rebuilds a damaged gut and explains what foods to eat in order to heal.

And at age 4, my son began the Selective Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), the original celiac diet. Thanks to this diet, Colin would be re-born into our lives in a way we never dreamed possible.

To Be Continued

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RESEARCH

Language Dysfunction In Epileptic Conditions

ds=12350043&dopt=Abstract <- - address ends here

Wheless JW, Simos PG, Butler IJ.

Department of Neurology, University of Texas-Houston, 77030, USA.

Epilepsy may disrupt brain functions necessary for language development by its associated intellectual disabilities or directly as a consequence of the seizure disorder.

Additionally, in recent years, there has been increasing recognition of the association of epileptiform electroencephalogram (EEG) abnormalities with language disorders and autism spectrum disorders.

Any process that impairs language function has long-term consequences for academic, social, and occupational adjustments in children and adolescents with epilepsy.

Furthermore, impairments in specific language abilities can impact memory and learning abilities.

This article reviews interictal language function in children and adults with epilepsy; epilepsy surgery and language outcome; and language disorders associated with abnormal EEGs.

The relationship between epilepsy and language function is complicated as the neuroanatomic circuits common to both overlap.

We demonstrate how magnetoencephalography (MEG) offers the ability to analyze the relationship of language, EEG abnormalities, and epilepsy.

PMID: 12350043 [PubMed - in process]

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ds=12349875&dopt=Abstract <- - address ends here

Dawson G, Webb S, Schellenberg GD, Dager S, Friedman S, Aylward E, Richards T. Center of Human Development and Disability, University of Washington, Seattle 98195, USA.

Achieving progress in understanding the cause, nature, and treatment of autism requires an integration of concepts, approaches, and empirical findings from genetic, cognitive neuroscience, animal, and clinical studies.

The need for such integration has been a fundamental tenet of the discipline of developmental psychopathology from its inception.

It is likely that the discovery of autism susceptibility genes will depend on the development of dimensional measures of broader phenotype autism traits.

It is argued that knowledge of the cognitive neuroscience of social and language behavior will provide a useful framework for defining such measures.

In this article, the current state of knowledge of the cognitive neuroscience of social and language impairments in autism is reviewed.

Following from this, six candidate broader phenotype autism traits are

proposed: (a) face processing, including structural encoding of facial features and face movements, such as eye gaze; (b) social affiliation or sensitivity to social reward, pertaining to the social motivational impairments found in autism; (c) motor imitation ability, particularly imitation of body actions; (d) memory, specifically those aspects of memory mediated by the medial temporal lobe-prefrontal circuits; (e) executive function, especially planning and flexibility; and (f) Language ability, particularly those aspects of language that overlap with specific language impairment, namely, phonological processing.

PMID: 12349875 [PubMed - in process]

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ds=12349873&dopt=Abstract <- - address ends here

Rodier PM. OB/GYN, University of Rochester, NY 14642, USA. patricia_rodier@URMC.rochester.edu

The hypothesis that brain stem injury plays a role in the autism spectrum disorders was suggested by evidence that exposure to thalidomide during the earliest stages of brain development increases the risk of autism spectrum disorders.

The implications for the embryological origin of autism first led to studies of neuroanatomy in a human case and an animal model and then to examinations of minor craniofacial features in autism.

But the general hypothesis had much broader implications.

It has now generated studies of the behavioral and neurological symptoms of human patients, of human molecular genetics and population genetics, and of animal behavioral teratology and molecular pharmacology.

The collection of this range of data was made possible by adding experts from many fields to the research team.

They worked both independently and collaboratively to try to unravel the etiology of autism.

PMID: 12349873 [PubMed - in process]

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FUNDRAISING

M.I.N.D. Institute Grand Opening & Walk for Hope

[From a M.I.N.D. Institute announcement.]

Come join us Saturday, April 12, 2003 for our 3rd Annual Run/Walk for Hope and the Grand Opening of the M.I.N.D. Institute's New Building located on 50th Street, south of the Ronald McDonald House. Proceeds from this event will help advance the understanding, care, and cure of neurodevelopmental disorders and give hope to many families of children with autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Whether you participate as a runner/walker, volunteer or sponsor, we thank you wholeheartedly for your support and look forward to seeing you there. Schedule of Events:

7:00 AM – Registration

8:15 AM - Kid's 1/2 mile run (ages 12 and under)

8:30 AM - 5K Run/Walk 10:00 AM - Grand Opening Celebration

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Autism Groups Join Parents for Full-Page Advertisement in the Washington Post

[From a UA announcement.]

After serious talks of placing a full-page advertisement in the Washington Post to address the rise in disabilities among children, three major organizations confirmed today that they will make substantial donations towards the $76,000 project.

Unlocking Autism, Safe Minds, and The National Vaccine Information Center have joined forces with JoAnne Pike and hundreds of parents, caretakers and vendors, to campaign for answers from the government about the growing number of vaccine-related disabilities among children in America. "Something big needs to happen before anything will change," says JoAnne Pike, Unlocking Autism Representative and mother of a child diagnosed with autism. "The government isn't hearing us. National media isn't hearing us. Lucrative drug companies are being protected. What weave got is a national crisis silent one."

Safe Minds President Lyn Redwood believes the ad is an excellent way to take action. "We know its time for something like this to happen, which is why we are standing behind it 100%. Our children have been exposed to one of the most toxic substance on earth, mercury, in excess of federal safety guidelines from mandated infant vaccines and now suffer with a wide range of physical and developmental disabilities and no one wants to discuss this fact. This will be one powerful message to the public and government officials if they haven't heard our message yet, they will."

Focusing on the simultaneous rise in vaccination rates, multiple vaccines and chronic disease and disability in the past 20 years, the goal of the ad is to educate the general public and notify vaccine lawmakers and policymakers that something needs to be done. Barbara Loe Fisher, co-founder and president of the National Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), the oldest and largest vaccine safety advocacy organization in America, agrees that something has to be done to get the public's attention. "We are not going to wait another 20 years for the answers to legitimate questions about why so many of our children are sick. We want to know why bright, healthy children are never the same after getting vaccinated and we are not going to give up until they give us credible answers."

Unlocking Autism President Shelley Reynolds is also ready to address the rise in disabilities, "Only ten years ago in the state of Louisiana, seven children per year received a diagnosis of autism. Today that number is 273. Keep in mind this is one small state. With these sobering numbers, it's unrealistic to believe that physicians, with more patients than ever before, have abruptly sharpened their diagnostic skills. After all, we're not seeing 1 in 250 adults with autism, but unfortunately this may be our fate if we do not take immediate action. The rise in autism is very real and extremely serious. It's time for government officials to heed the demands of thousands of parents who are anything but wrong."

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COMMENTARY

More From Dr. Frank Marone on Science

Dr. Michael Sichel sticks carefully to scientific discussion and reveals much information that might otherwise not have been summarized so clearly and succinctly in this forum.

The major flaw (scientifically) in the many studies Dr. Sichel cites is that the same anomalies that are characterized as discriminating autism also are present in some non-autistic individuals. This is a problem.

Regardless Dr. Sichel's assertions, we do not at present have a test for 'autism' remotely akin to our current tests for, for example, Hepatitis C, strep, HIV, and etc. More like chronic fatigue syndrome.

The point is not that children don't suffer from various deficiencies, and these may be related to behavioral and other symptoms, but that there are still no established correlations between these identified deficiencies and 'autism', as we have still not yet as a whole firmly determined what qualifies one as 'autistic'. Regardless one's position on the recent increase in diagnoses, no one would assert that at least some of the increase is not related to diagnostic changes and better identification. These things have to be taken into account.

Comments about GFCF diets and other interventions suffer both from being based entirely on testimonial and anecdotal evidence (not the 'empirical' evidence suggested) and that the design of intervention is AB (baseline - treatment).

Testimonials are heart warming and compelling. As a parent, I would be thrilled if I made a change and saw the kind of dramatic improvement described in the "Success Stories" section of the GFCF diet website, for example. I would of course persist. But this is scientifically irrelevant. Dr. Sichel knows this, I believe.

It is well established in science that an AB design can only suggest a possible effect. Random treatment assignment, reversal designs, and multiple baseline designs all are available to move suggested effects into the realm of established effectiveness. Where are these studies? Without them, all such treatments remain "snake oil", a term I chose specifically for its provocative nature. We are talking about children's lives here.

As a behaviorist, I of course agree that a Functional Medicine approach is useful. Functional approaches rely on individualized, case by case manipulations and observations. Your child climbs the walls, has diarrhea, and screams incessantly. Testing reveals sensitivity to wheat or dairy. After keeping track of symptoms for 30 days or so and identifying those expected to be improved by a change in diet, you eliminate wheat and dairy from your child's diet. Over the next 30 days, you continue to keep track of 'symptoms' and are able to document improvements. You are probably on to something, for your child.

Putting aside the lack of generalizability of such results, Dr. Sichel must know that this is not how such interventions are routinely done.

Rather, someone suggests that your child may be 'gluten and/or casein sensitive'. You make changes in your child's diet. Next, you look for any changes in your child that might confirm the correctness of the change in diet. Lo and behold, you are able to identify changes. Of course. When you look for anything you cannot help but find it. This is why we have statistical tests and prescribed scientific procedures.

It is not surprising to me that parents and other caretakers constantly look for improvement in their children or charges. As it is said "Hope springs eternal". I am also a parent and have dealt with many of these things. It is unfortunate, however, that 'professionals' seem so willing to support parents and caregivers in this pursuit, apparently abandoning all the scientific principles that have so far resulted in the longest and most trouble free human lifespan in history. The role of the scientific professional is to ground us in empirical evidence. When I took my daughter to the emergency room because she was thrashing about uncontrollably, I relied on the neurologist to clarify that these were 'choreo-athetoid' movements not a seizure.

Combining ABA with Functional Medicine makes perfect. I do so every day.

[Dr. Frank Marone is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area. Dr. Marone has been providing positive applied behavior analysis services for children and adults with autism for almost 30 years. He has parented two children considered nondisabled and two children with profound disabilities. He writes commentaries for the SAR regularly.]

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