During my years of teaching I have often seen children
misdiagnosed, improperly treated, and over treated for disorders. I noticed in my pervious school, parents were
quick to put their children on medication and were hesitant to explore some of
the natural alternatives and supplements.
Personally, I have begun to look at natural supplements, fruits, grains,
etc. to cure my own aliments and sicknesses instead of over the counter and prescription
medicine. Due to my own curiosity I
began searching for studies that supported the use of natural
alternatives. I found many studies supported
by National Institute of Health on the use of omega-3 fatty acids and how it
could reduce behaviors in autistic children.
One study done at the University of San Francisco in
conjunction with Autism Speaks studied 24 children ages 3 to 8, over the course
of 12 weeks. They found that an increase
in omega 3 fatty acids decreased the symptoms of hyperactivity in children
based on the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (Clinicaltrials.gov, 2012).
After looking at more research and trials, I found an
interesting study that reviewed 6 studies, which found limited evidence to
support the efficiency of using omega 3 fatty acids with autistic
children. Many of the studies were had
too small sizes, were too short in duration of study, and only looked at
outcomes of aberrant behavior (Bent, Bertoglio, Hendren, 2009). It was concluded although most studies were inconsistent;
one study did prove that omega 3 fatty acids had a positive outcome for supporting
hyperactivity. Therefore, more studies
should be conducted focusing on reduced hyperactivity as the outcome with
larger sample sizes and for a longer duration of study (Bent et all, 2009).
I found these studies to be very interesting as children
were at a minimal risk for the studies.
It is my hope that future studies will eventually reveal positive and
conclusive outcomes for natural alternatives to support autistic children and
their families.
References
Clinicaltrials.gov, (2012). Omega 3 fatty acids for autism
treatments. Retrieved from http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/study/NCT00786799?term=children+with+autism&recr=Completed&rslt=With&rank=4§=X73601
Brent,
S., Bertoglio, K., Hendren, R. (2009). Omega-3 fatty acids for autistic
spectrum disorder: a systematic review. Journal
of Autism Developmental Disorders, 39(8): 1145–1154. doi: 10.1007/s10803-009-0724-5
I found your blog post to very interesting and informative. I work with autistic children and each case is unique. My heart goes out to these children. There are so many behaviors varible that affect reseach that I do not think that there will ever be a concrete answer as to what cause autisum or a cure.
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