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I 'J - I f it ajc iic vi 37If I T h e O a kvill^ea verW e e ken d^S a tu K Ja ^Ja n ua r^^^20 06 ^J7 Understanding autism By M e la n ie C um m ings Kitchen Transformations With A Lifetime Limited Material Warranty SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Ten years ago autism struck one in every 10,000 children. Francine Landry's son Scott is proof of that statistic. Back then, it took three years to diagnose the cause of his sleeplessness, short attention span, compulsion to line up shoes, delayed speech and lack of social skills. Scott was four years old by the time his family could attach a name to his disorder. Today autism strikes one in 166 children. The escalating statistics, by 750 per cent, has labelled it the silent epidemic. Inform ation recently par layed by Landry and three physicians, to more than 250 people gathered in St. John's United Church, is helping to break this sound barrier and create understanding. "My family and I have learned a great deal from Scott," said Landry. "He taught me not to believe in negative prog noses, to find forward thinkers and that support from family, friends and th e com m unity makes all the difference." Autism is four times more prevalent in boys than girls and doesn't discriminate according to race, ethnicity or lifestyle. Through scientific advances, diagnoses are now confirmed in two and three-year-old toddlers and significant symptoms are beginning to be identified in children as young as six months. According to Dr. Peter Szatmari who is head of the child psychiatry at McMaster University's Offord Centre for Child Studies, autism is a neu rological developmental disor der caused by genetic factors. The good news is that treat m ent, over time, makes chil dren better. Still though, autism Autistic children who receive steady, am ple treatm en t can boost their IQ scores by 17 points - a feat difficult for peo ple of normal intelligence, said Dr. Nicole Walton-Alien who is the director of the Behaviour Institute and in charge of train ing therapists th a t w ork in provincial government funded autism programs. `T here is now a m uch more hopeful picture w ith early intensive intervention for autis tic children," she said. As of 2004-05 the Behaviour Institute served 545 children at a cost of $40 million to Ontario taxpayers and still there is a 1224 m onth waiting list. "It's a large scale initiative and courageous move on the We can reface your existing cabinets with new doors and laminate in your choke of style & colour. Select complimentary hardware & hove the kitchen of your dreams. NO PAYMENTS, NO INTEREST FOR 6 MONTHS oac Visit our showroom or coll for your FREE In Home Consultation ASHLEY WESSEL / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER $ GRANITE transform ations 1313 Speers Road, Oakville · 905-847-8964 Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 10am-4pm www.granitetransformations.ca PARENT ADVOCACY: Francine Landry, mother of a child with autism and director of the organization Unity for Autism spoke about her experiences and the organization's work Monday evening at St. John's United Church as part of the Power of One speaker series. part of the government," she added. Early diagnosis under the age of four followed up by inten sive, 36-hours per week therapy over two to three years is show ing the best outcome. The qual ity and quantity of supervision affects outcome, said WaltonAlien. "And Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is th e only proven treatm ent to have effica cy because it is scientifically measurable." ABA is used to teach autistic children through wsvgjwjg social" ansf classroom settings pro-social alternatives toward m anaging otherwise self-injurious, repetitive, aggressive and disruptive behaviour. "The challenge is accessibili ty," said Walton-Alien. That' s where Landry's chari ty called Unity for Autism steps in. The fundraising and finan cial assistance organization, of which Landry is a director, is currently paying for two chil dren to attend the Behaviour Institute program for an entire school year, and has also pur chased two highly-trained Labradors to protect two autis tic children, created a sensory m otor playroom in Toronto's G iant Steps School, given money to 100 families through the Jennifer Ashleigh Foundation so that they can purchsase services privately, and paid for recreational ski les sons, horse riding, trips to Disney World and sum m er camp. Aside from treating autistic children through academic and social means, Mississauga-based naturopath, Dr. Scott Clack said th at diet and environm ent could play a role in autism too. He provided anecdotal details of affected children who came to him with accompany ing motf alftrgjis antf fry elim i nating gluten, refined sugars and dairy from their diets the children's health status and behaviour changed for the bet ter. Clack has worked over the past three years with about 30 autistic children. As a newly certified Defeat Autism Now (DAN) practitioner he has stud ied environm ental reactions, food intolerances and biomed ical connections to the symp toms of autism. "It's not part of the main stream thinking but I have seen the powerful effects of needlefree acupuncture and detoxifi cation has on autistic kids," said Clack. "The effects can be powerful if we just think outside the box." 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