{"id":355,"date":"2010-03-09T10:12:50","date_gmt":"2010-03-09T09:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/summit-education.com\/?p=355"},"modified":"2010-03-11T09:56:22","modified_gmt":"2010-03-11T09:26:22","slug":"alternative-therapies-emerge-in-wake-of-rising-autism-by-gary-m-eisenberg-ph-d","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/general\/alternative-therapies-emerge-in-wake-of-rising-autism-by-gary-m-eisenberg-ph-d\/","title":{"rendered":"Alternative Therapies Emerge in Wake of Rising Autism by Gary M. Eisenberg, Ph.D."},"content":{"rendered":"

The incidence of autism is continuing to grow meteorically.\u00a0 The CDC is now revising its figures to indicate that 1 in 100 children born in America fall into the autistic spectrum.\u00a0 This is approximately 1 in 80 boys.\u00a0 Other studies are showing that better than 1% of all American children will be classified on the autistic spectrum this year.<\/p>\n

New problems are being met by new therapies.\u00a0 Drugs have long been used for unmanageable behaviors, but now with increased applicability of behavioral methods, many parents are seeing rising utility with alternative and nonpharmacological approaches.<\/p>\n

MRI studies have long shown that the autistic brain has a very small corpus collusum.\u00a0 The corpus collusum is responsible for cross-talk, or communication in the brain.\u00a0 Hence, the autistic brain is not wired to communicate within itself.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Several new therapies seek to do just that.\u00a0 The Sensory Learning Program<\/em><\/strong> unites three modalities (auditory, visual, and vestibular) into a single 30-day intervention to improve perception, understanding and learning.\u00a0 During these 30 days children receive two 30-minute sessions involving intense sensory experiences where they simultaneously receive visual, auditory, and vestibular stimulation.\u00a0 After the initial 12 days in the sensory learning center, this student returns home with a portable light instrument to continue the program for 18 more days.\u00a0 The brain, now receiving overwhelming sensory data, is forced to cope with such data neurologically.\u00a0 It is believed new neural pathways are being engaged so that children can integrate the sensory experiences.\u00a0 In autistic children, this has improved their ability to \u201cconnect\u201d to other human beings as shown by increased eye contact and an approachable personality.\u00a0 Some children with Asperger\u2019s and developmental delays are now able to better process verbal information, therefore improving their speech.\u00a0 Long-term research is still outstanding on the Sensory Learning Program, but it appears to be an alternative method worth investigating.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Jeff Strong and Beth Kaplan established the REI Institute<\/strong> after over a decade of research into using musical rhythms in therapy to practice.\u00a0 Their Rhythmic Entrainment Intervention<\/em><\/strong> has been used successfully now by hundreds of speech and occupational therapists, with not only autistic children but those with language and communication delays, hyperactivity, self-stimulatory behaviors and oppositional behaviors.<\/p>\n

Strong\u2019s therapy is also based on the principle that auditory stimulation will improve and influence brain wave patterns.\u00a0 Strong bases his therapy on ancient approaches that emphasize rhythm-healing, including drumming patterns that influence the internal rhythmic patterns of the individual. \u00a0It is well known that autism and ADHD are related to deficits in self-regulation with the individual\u2019s self-control.\u00a0 Strong\u2019s therapy improves internal specific rhythms, which are then used to modulate emotion and nervous system function.<\/p>\n

This \u201chealing music\u201d is easy to use and only includes listening to a CD one-half hour a day for ten weeks.\u00a0 Strong is continuing with objective scientific research.\u00a0 Scientifically controlled pilot studies are already showing the following effects in autistic populations:\u00a0 calming, reduction of self-stimulatory behaviors, reduced aggression and improved eye contact.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Social skills training is the principal means by which high-functioning autistic or Asperger\u2019s children are remediated.\u00a0 The ILAUGH<\/strong> model of social cognition, established by Marcia Garcia Winner, objectively teaches the Asperger\u2019s student how to talk more appropriately about their favorite topic of interest.\u00a0 It emphasizes subtle body language.\u00a0 ILAUGH teaches how to listen with \u201cone\u2019s eyes.\u201d\u00a0 Hence, the student is taught joint attention along with the ability to follow increasingly complex cues that eventually lead to improved body language.\u00a0 Latter sessions emphasize the teaching of abstract inferential language comprehension.\u00a0 ILAUGH can be taught by its main curriculum book or \u201cthinking\u201d worksheets.\u00a0 In other words, it can be taught in the school system just as one teaches math in a math class.<\/p>\n

This exciting approach is already helping Asperger\u2019s children get out of their world of self-absorption and preoccupations.\u00a0 With better social skills, Asperger\u2019s children are finding themselves better accepted by peers and more appropriate for job placement.<\/p>\n

Research is underway for all of these alternative therapies.\u00a0 Thousands of parents, as well as forward-thinking speech and occupational therapists, have begun to take notice.\u00a0 Contrary to her pharmacological approach, these therapies have curative, not palliative effects.\u00a0 The future of autism treatment has now broadened.<\/p>\n

Gary M. Eisenberg, Ph.D.<\/strong>
\nClinical Psychologist
\nSummit Instructor<\/p>\n

Share Your Thoughts<\/h3>\n
    \n
  • Have you had any experience with the Sensory Learning Program, REI or ILAUGH?<\/li>\n
  • What are you thoughts on these three alternative therapies?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The incidence of autism is continuing to grow meteorically.\u00a0 The CDC is now revising its figures to indicate that 1 in 100 children born in America fall into the autistic spectrum.\u00a0 This is approximately 1 in 80 boys.\u00a0 Other studies are showing that better than 1% of all American children will be classified on the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=355"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":367,"href":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/355\/revisions\/367"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/summit-education.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}