Autism Nutrition

This is Part I of an article on clinical data on biomedical autism treatment from our clinic in Singapore. It was presented by Dr. Ang Poon Liat and John Yeo at the First Singapore Conference on Integrative Medicine, held on October 20 to 22, 2006.

The clinical data looked at the outcome of autistic kids who received biomedical treatment at our clinic in Singapore, during 2005 and 2006.

ATEC scores

For this study, the basis of measuring the outcome of biomedical autism treatment is the ATEC (Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist) score, or ATEC Checklist.

This is a scoring system developed by Dr Bernard Rimland and Dr Stephen M. Edelson of the US-based Autism Research Institute. It is an effective means of measuring the effectiveness of various autism treatments as part of the Defeat Autism Now! protocol.

You can read more about the ATEC checklist by clicking here.

For the purpose of understanding the data presented here on biomedical autism treatment, you just need to understand a few things about ATEC:

• The lower the ATEC score, the better. A score close to zero means that the child can be considered normal, that is, not autistic. The maximum score is 180, which means that the child is very severely autistic.
• An ATEC score of below 30 means that the child is close to normal and has good chances of leading a normal life as an independent person.
• An ATEC score of below 50 means that the child is more or less normal and can be semi-independent. The person will not have to be confined to a mental institution or “nut house“. For many parents of autistic children, this is already considered very significant.
• The ATEC Checklist consist of four sub-categories. So apart from the total scores, there are sub-scores to measure improvements in each of these areas:
  • Speech / Language / Communication
  • Sociability
  • Sensory / Cognitive Awareness
  • Health / Physical / Behaviour

Study population

Since an ATEC score of below 30 is considered close to normal, “autistic” children with such scores at the start of their biomedical autism treatment were excluded from this study. There is little point in measuring the improvement of children who were already close to normal to begin with.

In addition, only children with at least two sets of ATEC scores could be studied. Otherwise, there would be no basis for determining whether or not they had improved from biomedical autism treatment.

After excluding these two groups of children, clinical data available was for 80 children, comprising 17 females and 63 males.

Their mean age was 5.1 years +/- 3.4 years. The youngest was 2 years old and the oldest was 20.

Most of these autistic kids received biomedical autism treatment for nine months or longer.

Overall results

For the group as a whole, the results of biomedical autism treatment were as follows:

The data above shows that overall, there has been an improvement in the ATEC scores, with the average post-treatment score brought to less than 50 – the 30th percentile level. Autistic individuals at this level have good changes of being able to lead semi-independent lives.

It should be emphasized that the ATEC score of 48 represents an average. Some children fared better, some less well.

Moreover, improvements are recorded in all the four sub-categories of speech, sociability, sensory awareness and health.

The p value is a statistical measure of significance. A value of < 0.05 is considered statistically significant and the smaller the number, the more statistically significant.

Thus, the p values of 0.001 for the total ATEC score and three of the four sub-categories show that the improvement is statistically very, very significant.

In summary, the data shows that overall, autistic children responded well to biomedical autism treatment.

Breakdown of ATEC scores

A detailed breakdown of ATEC scores reveals the following:

• 6 autistic kids (8 percent) improved remarkably with biomedical autism treatment, with their ATEC scores dropping by more than 50 points.Of these, 2 are considered to have recovered, with their ATEC scores dropping to near zero. In one case, the ATEC score dropped to 4 while in another, the score dropped to 2. These kids are able to hold two-way conversations and socialize with normal students in class. They do not behave differently from other normal kids.To read the story of one of these recovered kids, whose ATEC dropped from 73 to 4 points, click here.
• 33 autistic kids (42 percent) improved greatly with their ATEC scores dropping by 20 to 49 points.
• 16 autistic kids (20 percent) improved moderately with their ATEC scores dropping by 10 to 19 points.

There were, however, some autistic kids who did not respond to biomedical autism treatment.

• 24 kids (30 percent) are considered non-responders, registering reductions in ATEC scores of less than 10 points. Of these 12 kids received biomedical autism treatment for less than six months, so it is not clear if they would improve if they had continued the treatment longer. Another 12 kids truly did not respond despite receiving biomedical autism treatment for more than 6 months.

Recovered and near-recovered kids

ATEC < 30

A score of ATEC < 30 means places the child in the top 10 percentile of autistic kids. The child has some ability to carry out two-way conversations (those with ATEC < 20 fare better), and more or less behave normally. Such children have high chances of leading fully independent lives.

Clinical data from our clinic showed that 20 kids (25 percent) moved into this range. They achieved an average reduction in ATEC scores of 33 points after receiving biomedical autism treatment.

ATEC < 50

A score of ATEC < 50 means that the child has good chances of leading semi-independent lives. For many parents of autistic kids, this already makes them very satisfied. The clinical data shows 14 kids (17 percent) moved into this range.

They started off with average ATEC scores of 76 points (ranging from 60 points to 115 points) and, after biomedical autism treatment, reduced their ATEC scores to an average of 39 points.

Conclusion: Autism is treatable

Many medical “experts” maintain that autism cannot be treated and that recovery is impossible.

The cases of recovered and near-recovered autistic kids, as presented in the clinical data of our clinic, Singapore, has proven the experts wrong. They have proven that AUTISM IS TREATABLE.

“For these recovered and near-recovered kids, it was worth enduring the ridicule and scorn of many who frown upon those who pursue the biomedical approach for the treatment of Autism.” – John Yeo, nutritionist

More Information

Click here for more clinical data on biomedical autism treatment, including data on mercury toxicity and the effects of the biomedical approach combined with other treatment approaches such as ABA, occupational therapy, speech therapy, etc.

Also, click here to view a video on how mercury causes brain neuron degeneration. The video is produced by the Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary.