Introduction I
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Introduction i The Complete Guide to Autism Treatments: Make Sure Your Child Gets What Works! Copyright © 2011 by SKF Books, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by Any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any errors and omissions are the responsibility of the author. Library of Congress Control Number: 2010919311 Freeman, Sabrina Karen, 1958 – The complete guide to autism treatments. A parent’s handbook: Make sure your child gets what works! / Sabrina Freeman Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-9657565-7-0 1. Autism in children—Treatment. 2. Autism—Treatment. I. Title RJ506.A9F725 2011 618.92’85882’06 C2011-900064-9 Published by: SKF Books, Inc. 1050 Larrabee Avenue #104-357 Bellingham, WA 98225 Printed in the U.S.A. Second Edition Disclaimer: The cover photo is being used for illustrative purposes only and any person depicted in that photo is a model. ii Introduction Contents Foreword .....................................................................................ix Introduction .............................................................................. xix Section One: What Works and What Doesn’t? ............1 Cost of Autism Treatment .....................................................................3 Half-baked Research ............................................................................4 1.1 Behavioral Therapies ............................................................................5 What is Behaviorism as it Applies to Autism ...........................7 What is Applied Behavior Analysis? .............................7 What is Intensive Behavioral Treatment? .....................9 Is the IBT Program Home-based or Center-based? ......9 • Home-based Intensive Behavioral Treatment .......................11 • School-based Intensive Behavioral Treatment .....................25 • Offshoots of Intensive Behavioral Therapies........................39 -Pivotal Response Training and the Natural Learning Paradigm ....................................................................39 -Positive Behavior Support .........................................53 -Verbal Behavior Therapy ...........................................61 -Fluency Training ........................................................67 1.2 Other School-based Therapies (non-behavioral) ................................81 • TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children) ................83 • The Playschool (Colorado Health Sciences Center) .............95 • Giant Steps ..........................................................................105 • The Higashi School/Daily Life Therapy .............................113 • Walden Preschool ...............................................................121 iii The Complete Guide to Autism Treatments: Make Sure Your Child Gets What Works! 1.3 Child-lead/Parent-facilitated Therapies ............................................ 131 • Floor-Time (Greenspan’s Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship Model - DIR) .............................. 133 • Options Institute/Son-Rise Program ....................................... 143 • Relationship Development Intervention (RDI) .................. 151 • The Learning to Speak Program ............................................ 159 1.4 Biomedical Therapies ........................................................................ 167 • Diet/Nutrition Therapy (Gluten and Casein-free Diet) ........ 169 • Chelation Therapy ................................................................. 183 • Intravenous Immunoglobulin .............................................. 191 • Secretin ............................................................................... 197 • Vitamin B6 and Magnesium ................................................ 205 1.5 Speech and Language Therapies ....................................................... 217 • Fast ForWord Program ....................................................... 219 • The Hanen Method ............................................................. 227 • Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes .................................. 235 • The SCERTS Model ........................................................... 241 1.6 Miscellaneous Therapies .................................................................. 249 • Art Therapy ......................................................................... 251 • Auditory Integration Training ............................................. 255 • Cranio-sacral Therapy .......................................................... 267 • Dolphin-assisted Therapy ....................................................... 273 • Exercise Therapy ................................................................ 281 • Facilitated Communication Training .................................. 289 • Holding Therapy ................................................................. 309 • Music Therapy .................................................................... 317 • Pet-facilitated Therapy .......................................................... 327 • Sensory Integration Therapy .............................................. 335 • Vision Therapy ................................................................... 349 iv Introduction Section Two: How Do We Know What Works and What Doesn’t ............................................................................. 359 2.1 Why care about science? ................................................................... 362 2.2 Why we can’t always rely on experts? ............................................. 363 • Experts” do not always know about science ............................ 363 • They may not value science ..................................................... 364 • Advancement trumps quality concerns ..................................... 364 • Some experts’ motives are not always pure ............................. 365 • The scientific method versus pseudo-science ........................... 366 Using the scientific method to protect your child ................. 370 What if the treatment method is too new for data collection? ..................................................................... 370 • What about anecdotes? Can we use them at all? ..................... 371 • We need to care about theory ................................................... 373 What is a theory? .................................................................. 374 Good research is motivated or driven by theory ................... 375 2.3 How do we generalize results in autism research? ............................. 378 2.4 Using science to move closer to the truth ......................................... 379 • Testing theory ........................................................................... 379 • Experiments are not optional .................................................... 382 • Peer review - necessary but not sufficient ................................ 382 • Uncover the funding source for the study ................................ 383 • Finding the peer-reviewed journal articles ............................... 386 • Is the journal peer-reviewed? ................................................. 387 2.5 Analyzing a study ............................................................................. 389 • How many groups are there in the study? ................................ 389 Is it a Between-Subjects Design? .......................................... 390 Is it a Within-Subjects Design? ............................................ 395 Is it a Between-Within Subjects Design? ............................. 398 Is it a Factorial Design? ........................................................ 401 Is it a Single-Subject Case Design? ...................................... 403 What’s the problem with Single-Subject Case Designs? ...... 406 v The Complete Guide to Autism Treatments: Make Sure Your Child Gets What Works! • How many children should there be in each experimental group? ...................................................................................... 408 • What is the ideal number? ........................................................ 408 • What is acceptable? .................................................................. 409 • How are children in a study assigned to the experimental groups? .................................................................................... 410 • What is being measured and how? ........................................... 413 Autism (the Dependent Variable) .............................................. 413 Treatment (the Independent Variable) .................................... 415 • Who collects the data? .............................................................. 418 • Who administers the treatment? ............................................... 420 • Did research results happen by chance? .................................... 421 • Is the study biased and how can bias be avoided? ................... 422 Bias type 1: History ............................................................. 422 Bias type 2: Maturation ....................................................... 423 Bias type 3: Treatment contamination ................................. 423 Confounding variables in general ..........................................425 2.6 How researchers mistakenly ruin their own well-designed studies ............................................................ 426 2.7