 Autism,
Asperger's Syndrome, Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD), and Attention
Deficit Disorder Treatment
The DAN Protocol (Defeat Autism Now!)
Autism, Pervasive Developmental Disorder
(PDD), and Asperger’s Syndrome are different but related neurobiological
disorders often now
called Autistic Spectrum Disorders. A minority of children with attention
deficit disorder (ADD)—formerly known as hyperactive or hyperactivity
disorder—also have some autistic traits.
Autism:
A neurological disorder in which there is a reduced
ability to recognize, interpret and communicate interpersonal social skills. Often, but not always, persons with autistic spectrum disorder also have
difficulty with verbal communication and a high degree of sensitivity to
environmental factors and events such as food, loud noises and moving objects.
Autism, in fact, is a multi-system illness since there are often also
dysfunction and imbalances in the immune system, gastro-intestinal systems
nutritional metabolism, and other aspects of the body.
Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD):
PDD is a term that is usually used to
describe children who have some features of autism but for whom social skills
and communication problems tend to be less severe.
Asperger’s Syndrome:
Asperger's describes a special group of children who share some
autistic features such as difficulty with social behavior, but who may be highly
skilled in certain areas of knowledge and behavior. It is also often
written as Asperger Syndrome or Aspergers Syndrome.
Autistic Spectrum Disorder:
Used to describe a broad range of conditions with
partly over-lapping features. That is, Autism, PDD and Asperger’s Syndrome.
While some persons with autistic spectrum disorder have mental retardation, many
are quite bright, some even unusually brilliant.
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD):
A very different condition, which in most
cases has little if any overlap with autism. However, some children with
attention deficit disorder do have social clumsiness that overlaps with the
autistic spectrum. Some doctors who treat autism and attention deficit disorder
feel that complementary alternative treatments that they use for autistic
spectrum disorders might also help some children who have attention deficit
disorder. (Formerly called hyperactive or hyperactivity.)
-
 Autism
Treatments and the DAN Protocol
- The number of children diagnosed with autistic
spectrum disorders has increased dramatically during the last decade according
to detailed reports on autism and Asperger’s Syndrome that have been done in
New Jersey, California, Illinois, and other states. While part of this
increase is the result of more aggressive diagnosis, it seems highly likely that
a great part of the increase in autism is real. Autism spectrum disorders, once
rare, have now become an epidemic. In 1995, Dr. Bernard Rimland, director of
San Diego’s Autism Research Institute, brought together 30 leading researchers
and practitioners to develop a protocol to guide parents and physicians toward
more effective autism therapies and autism treatments. They gave it the
name DAN—Defeat
Autism Now. Since then, hundreds of physicians and thousands of patients
have received autism treatments as the protocols themselves have
evolved. Frequent Improvement has been reported—some modest, some dramatic.
Each year
many of the most prominent complementary alternative autism doctors meet to
review the results of their treatments with the DAN protocol for autistic
spectrum disorders. They revise their protocols and recommendations as their
experience grows.
We use
the DAN Protocol as a main part of our approach to Autism, PDD, Asperger’s
Syndrome, and selected persons with Attention Deficit Disorder. Each
year, at least one of the clinicians on our staff participates in the annual DAN
Protocol conference, sharing our experience with those across the country,
and working hard to keep our program up to date.
Our
office has been involved with DAN since 1997. Both Wendy King, RN, APN, Ph.D.,
and Dr. Podell have been trained and certified as DAN Protocol
practitioners. Dr. King directs our autism spectrum research and
treatment programs.
It has
not been possible to do controlled studies on the DAN autism treatments, as desirable
as this would be—there is, as you might guess, much too little research money
being directed at our task. Without double blind controlled studies, it is
possible that the improvements we and other DAN practitioners have seen might
have occurred anyway due to natural maturation or just by chance. This is
possible, although we believe, unlikely.
However,
since the DAN autism treatments, by and large, are relatively safe, and since
standard treatments for autism, Asperger’s Syndrome and PDD are not even
close to satisfactory, many parents and physicians such as ourselves feel that
it’s reasonable to add the DAN Protocol approach to their current therapies.
Each
child is different. There’s no single cookie cutter approach. However, DAN
Protocol interventions do follow broad principles of complementary alternative
medicine. This has also been called the “functional medicine” approach. We
attempt to measure and evaluate key aspects of the body’s function that relate
to our neurochemistry, immune system, hormones and metabolism. Thus, DAN
Protocol practitioners assess the balance and adequacy of vitamins, minerals,
essential fatty acids digestive function, liver detoxification, immune system,
and a broad range of bodily functions.
Food
sensitivities may also be important. A dramatic insight lies in the fact that
milk protein and wheat gluten both contain morphine like molecules within the
protein structure. Normally, these are destroyed by digestion. However, most
autistic children may be unable to do this. As a result, high levels of opiate
molecules are found in their blood and urine.
Eliminating milk and wheat gluten is a difficult chore. However, many parents
feel that the possibility of helping justifies the effort. When we recommend
dietary changes we provide instructional literature, nutritional assessment to
be sure there’s enough calcium, magnesium and other nutrients, and offer a range
of support services through knowledgeable consultants.
Our
interest in the DAN Protocol and autistic spectrum disorders such as Asperger's
Syndrome and Pervasive Development Disorder (PDD) derives from a
broader interest in holistic approaches to natural healing, and the belief that
healing occurs best if we can remove obstacles that affect our body’s systems.
We view our role as to add value to your current therapies. Most
emphatically, we do not wish to compete with or exclude your current medical
consultants. Our goal is to collaborate with you and with your pediatrician,
neurologist and other specialists, so that our contribution best supports what
they are doing.
For more
information about the DAN Protocol contact autism treatments, visit the the
Autism Research Institute's
website or
contact the Center for the Study
of Autism, P.O. Box 4538, Salem, OR 97302, U.S.A.
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