ASAT Responds to UPI.com's 'Doctor fired over autism treatment'

Thursday, April 05, 2012

Thank you for your recent story entitled, "Doctor fired over autism treatment" (UPI.com, January 10, 2012). Parents of children with autism are bombarded with treatment options, often to the point of confusion. You correctly inform the reader that "the treatment [hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT)] would offer families false hope." We would like to point out that recent research published in the peer-reviewed journal, Behavior Analysis in Practice, concluded that children with autism received no benefit from hyperbaric oxygen therapy.[1]   By citing the above article, you could have supported your statement above and helped parents to further understand that this approach is not a worthwhile treatment option.

Although your report underscores the ineffectiveness of HBOT, it also would have been helpful if science-based treatment options had been offered. For example, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is a treatment modality that has the support of several hundred articles published in peer-reviewed research journals. References to studies supporting the efficacy of ABA in the treatment of autism are available on our website (www.asatonline.org). We encourage UPI to access this information when preparing future articles about autism and autism treatment so that parents and caregivers can be better informed about effective intervention for their children with autism.

Geoffrey DeBery, M.A., BCBA
Media Review Committee, Association for Science in Autism Treatment

Barbara Jamison
Board Member, Association for Science in Autism Treatment
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¹ Lerman, D. C., Sansbury, T., Hovanetz, A., Wolever, E., Garcia, A., O’Brien, E., & Adedipe, H. (2008). Using behavior analysis to examine the outcomes of unproven therapies: An evaluation of hyperbaric oxygen therapy for children with autism. Behavior Analysis in Practice, 1 (2)¸ 50-58.

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