Autism treatment guide cuts through the mass of theories

Published on Friday 29 June 2007 01:54

WHEN Alison Leask first heard one of her relatives had autism, she went straight on to the internet to research the condition.

Of the five million sites she found discussing the disorder, 97,000 described a cure. Three years later, she found 46 million sites on the disorder and five million on a cure.

Now, in an effort to help the relatives of those with the condition deal with the baffling amount of often conflicting information, the NHS in Scotland has drawn up guidelines for the care children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) should receive.

ASD affects 7,500 children under 19 in Scotland. Yet mystery surrounds the condition. In the late 1990s it was linked to the controversial measles, mumps and rubella triple vaccine and theories abound linking it to heavy metals in the environment.

NHS QIS Scotland - the national clinical effectiveness body - carried out the most extensive assessment yet of the methods available to diagnose and treat ASD, from fatty acids to swimming with dolphins.

The resulting 67-page document is intended to help doctors better diagnose and treat the condition.

Dr Iain McClure, who brought together the guidelines through consultation with medical staff, patients groups and autistic children, said doctors and patients needed to know which theories to trust.

He said: "It is deeply frustrating to watch as parents' hopes are raised time and time again, only to see them dashed as we discover that claim after claim isn't backed up by the evidence."

Dr McClure said the research will help, but called for more research into other therapies.

"We need to see the research community take up the challenge of answering every parent's and every clinician's question: do these treatments work?"

Charities and support groups including the Scottish Society for Autism and the Scottish Centre for Autism took part in the study. But others feel that the NHS has dismissed alternative treatments too readily.

Bill Welsh, chairman of the Action Against Autism, insisted that nutritional and behavioural therapy is working.

However, as the chairwoman of Autism Argyll, Ms Leask said the guidelines are a welcome relief for thousands of people.

CLUES AND CURES

WARNING SIGNS

• Delay or absence of spoken language

• Failure to respond to the feelings of others

• Looking through people

• Inability to share pleasure

WHAT DOCTORS THINK MIGHT WORK

• Using pictures and objects to help children learn to communicate

• Routine and simplifying social interactions to provide an easier environment for learning

• Risperidone, a strong tranquilliser, is useful for short-term treatment of violent children endangering themselves or others

• Ritalin may be considered to treat attention difficulties and hyperactivity

WHAT DOCTORS THINK DOESN'T WORK

• The US Lovaas programme of intensive home-based therapy

• Listening to music to reduce the discomfort apparently experienced through certain sound frequencies

• Using a keyboard to help a child communicate

• Changing a child's diet or removing heavy metals