Parents New to Autism: Don’t Fall for Pseudoscience like DAN! or MAPS

Contributor

10 years ago

This is an edited-for-privacy version of an article Shannon Des Roches Rosa posted on an autism parenting board, in response to a parent asking for advice about DAN! doctors.

One of the loveliest features of this group is the opportunity for parents who are new to the world of disability and autism is to hear from parents with many years of experience — so those new parents can avoid some of the mistakes we veterans unwittingly made.

DAN! (or MAPS, or “biomedical” approaches to autism, doesn’t really matter) is pseudoscience. That means it is poppycock but sounds “sciencey,” so that parents who are given few answers for how to help their autistic child by the mainstream medical establishment, and who are often desperate to “fix” their autistic child because of negative media messages about autism, will grasp at such seemingly authoritative straws. Hence the need for such practitioners to mention Ivy League credentials, etc., repeatedly.

Note that DAN! doctors don’t usually take insurance. So, erm, what are the families who can’t afford such treatment supposed to do? Don’t you think that if DAN! ideas were truly effective they would be embraced by the mainstream medical establishment and the government so that children of all income backgrounds could benefit, not just those whose families have sufficient income (or houses to mortgage)?

Here are some guidelines for identifying DAN!/MAPS and other autism pseudoscience: Don’t fall for it. Autistic kids need your understanding, not fixing. Yes, they need to learn how to cope with the world. But they also need to you help change the world, make it accommodate them, so they don’t become so traumatized by it that they can’t learn, or enjoy life.

…all autism approaches should mirror the physicians’ credo “First, do no harm.” But how do you determine when benefits outweigh potential damage? The pseudoscience so often promoted as “autism treatments” has a handful of consistent identifying characteristics. Ask yourself:

Does this practitioner or vendor promise miracles that no one else seems to achieve?
Is the person promising the outcome also asking me for money?
Do I find any scientific research supporting their claims, or are there only individual (often emotional) testimonials of effects?
Does the practitioner or vendor promise a blanket “cure” for unrelated disorders, such as grouping together allergies and autism; or autism and ADHD; or autism, diabetes, cancer, and allergies?
Does the practitioner or vendor have strong credentials as an expert in the therapies they’re promising, or in the field of autism?

Thinking critically is one of the most important actions we can take for those we love, and for ourselves.
From: http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/p/mission-statement.html

Here are some other resources for parents new to autism:

What Now? Ten Tips for Families with a New Autism Diagnosis:
http://www.thinkingautismguide.com/2010/06/what-now-ten-tips-for-families-with-new.html
And something I wrote in HuffPo about accepting and understanding autistic kids:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/knowmore-tv/what-i-wish-your-child-knew-about-autism_b_5167390.html

Good luck. You are not alone. So don’t fall for anyone who tries to isolate you and turn you against the mainstream medical establishment — while gladly taking your money.

Reprinted with permission of the author from Squidalicious.

About Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Shannon has three kids — one of whom is autistic — sand calls herself writer, parent, geek, cheerful grump . She has been blogging fearlessly and compassionately about parenting and autism since 2003, at Squidalicious. Shannon is also a co-founder and senior editor at Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism.

Follow her on Twitter and Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism on Facebook.

Editor’s Note: Opinions expressed by Autism Daily Newscast Contributors are their own. We welcome all views and encourage you to enter your comments below. While we do allow for all views to be presented, Autism Daily Newscast does NOT believe autism is not a disease, nor needs a cure. The treatments used by some DAN! practitioners is: Detoxification of heavy metals through chelation (a potentially hazardous medical procedure. Autism Daily Newscast opposes Chelation treatments and have written extensively on this subject.