Find a therapist to help with autism

Another news article about expensive, experimental autism treatments showed up in my feed this weekend—this time in the British paper, The Guardian.

Over the years, I have read dozens of stories like it. Different families, different “miracle cures,” different groups of professionals or pseudo-professionals pushing it, but essentially the same. Each time, some individual, group, or company is pushing an untested intervention that will cure autism. They prey on desperate families who have insufficient supports for their high-needs children, teens, or adults, who are willing to do anything—and pay any price—to help their loved one.

I have seen individuals push all sorts of cures, such as hyperbaric chambers, expensive chiropractic interventions, bleach water, and even açaí berry juice. Some of these interventions are harmless, some potentially deadly. Some are relatively inexpensive, some cost tens of thousands of dollars—but they all share the common theme of claiming to help cure autism. Then, when it has played out, they move on to some other scheme.

Relaxed Protocols Have Enabled Experimental Autism Treatments

This time around, Robert Kennedy Jr., the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services, has relaxed scientific protocols and standards, allowing for experimental treatments to be administered legally in the U.S. The latest “miracle cures” are stem-cell treatments, given to autistic children, many of whom are........

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