The most tightly controlled study to date on the gluten-free casein-free (GFCF) diet found that application of the diet resulted in no significant change in autistic behavior or improvement in symptoms.
"...The researchers undertook a randomized, double-blinded (meaning neither the participants nor the researchers knew which treatment anyone received), placebo-controlled study.
Fourteen children who were put on the diet for at least four weeks were then given snacks containing gluten, casein, both or neither. The researchers evaluated the children for changes in attention, sleep, stool patterns and characteristic autistic behavior. The study did not show significant changes in any of these symptoms for any of the groups..."
"Dr. Leonard Rappaport, chief of the Division of Developmental Medicine at Children's Hospital in Boston, called the findings 'disappointing.'
'Even though I did not believe it really made a difference, I was hoping I was wrong,' Rappaport said. "
...
" 'Actually, I don't think that many parents will be disappointed," Amaral [David Amaral, president of the International Society for Autism Research and professor at the University of California at Davis] said. 'On the contrary, it is very difficult to maintain children on the [GFCF] diet. Some parents who may have failed in maintaining the diet may feel relieved to hear that it might not be a benefit to their child even if they had persisted.' "
...
"[From Dr. Stefani Hines, a development-behavioral pediatrician at William Beaumont children's hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan] 'So far the research that has been the most promising has been aimed at applied behavioral analysis,' she said. 'We still have much to learn regarding best treatment practices for children with autism.' "
Mudford, O., Blampied, N., Phillips, K., Harper, D., Foster, M., Church, J., Hunt, M., Prochnow, J., Rose, D., Arnold-Saritepe, A., Peters, H., Lie, C., Jeffrey, K., Messick, E., Sumpter, C., McEwan, J., & Wilczynski, S. (2009). Technical review of published research on applied behaviour analysis interventions for people with autism spectrum disorders: Auckland Uniservices Ltd. Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education.
Those interested in the report are directed to the Executive Summary page, where that summary and the full 126 page report can be directly accessed, respecting the note,
"Reports from Auckland UniServices Limited should only be used for the purposes for which
they were commissioned. If it is proposed to use a report prepared by Auckland UniServices
Limited for a different purpose or in a different context from that intended at the time of
commissioning the work, then UniServices should be consulted to verify whether the report is
being correctly interpreted. In particular it is requested that, where quoted, conclusions given
in UniServices reports should be stated in full."
For further information "Technical Review of Published Research on Applied Behaviour Analysis Interventions for People with Autism Spectrum Disorder"
Executive Summary and links to full report
Education Counts Author: Mudford, O., Blampied, N., Phillips, K., Harper, D., Foster, M., Church, J., Hunt, M., Prochnow, J., Rose, D., Arnold-Saritepe, A., Peters, H., Lie, C., Jeffrey, K., Messick, E., Sumpter, C., McEwan, J., & Wilczynski, S. (2009).
Date Published: 15 January 2009 - Revised 16 January 2009
Released on Education Counts: April 2010
ASAT has a request that those who find these newsletters and other resources offered by ASAT of value, help spread the word to families and colleagues about ASAT, the resources offered, and the newsletter so that as many as possible know where to go to get good information on evidenced treatments and interventions for autism spectrum disorders.
The Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) - the Federal advisory committee mandated by The Combating Autism Act (CAA) of 2006 (P.L. 109-416 – ) to coordinate research activities within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - and the Office of Autism Research Coordination (OARC), will be holding a full meeting of the Committee on Friday, April 30, 2010.
The Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center Rotunda Room
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20004
This meeting will also be available to the public by live videocast.
Schedule subject to change. Meeting may end prior to or later than 5:00 p.m. depending on the needs of the committee.
See the agenda website for full schedule and link to the videocast
Of particular interest may be, Research Update: Autism Treatment Network
Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D.
Chief Science Officer, Autism Speaks
Research Update: Autism in the DSM-V
Susan E. Swedo, M.D.
Senior Investigator, Behavioral Pediatrics Section
Pediatrics and Developmental Neurospsychiatry Branch, NIMH
Research Update: NIH Nonverbal ASD Workshop
Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D.
Director, Laboratory of Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, Boston University
Ann Wagner, Ph.D.
Chief, Neurobehavioral Mechanisms and Mental Disorders Branch, NIMH
Research Update: Building the Infrastructure for Comparative Effectiveness Research on Disability Issues
Rosaly Correa-de-Araujo, M.D., MSc, Ph.D.
Deputy Director, Office on Disability, Office of the Secretary
After April 20, the draft will still be available for viewing, but comments will no longer be taken.
The anticipated release of the completed DSM-5 is May 2013 to coordinate with the scheduled U.S. implementation on October 1, 2013 of the International Classification of Diseases-10-Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) (World Health Organization/WHO) codes for all Medicare/Medicaid claims reporting. Chapter V of the ICD-10-CM is Mental and behavioral disorders. A related development is that the ICD is also in revision to ICD-11 - that revised version is expected to be released in 2014 or 2015.
Under the header of "Science, Fads, and Behavior Analysis", the March Organization for Autism Research (OAR) newsletter, The OARacle, reprinted an article from the Autism Spectrum News, Winter 2010, 2(3), p. 21, by Dr. Thomas Zane, Ph.D., BCBA-D
While the conclusions of Dr. Zane's examination of RDI is informative, there is at least equal value in the description of the process starting from literature review through comparison to accepted criteria in determining validity as an evidenced-based practice.
Another interesting article of practical value is,
"How to: Keeping your child safe"
Readers are encouraged to browse the entire March issue, as well as the OAR website to become acquainted with OAR's activities, and funded research and scholarship programs.
King v. Secretary of Health and Human Services Case No. 03-584V
Mead v. Secretary of Health and Human Services Case No. 03-215V
Dwyer v. Secretary of Health and Human Services Case No. 03-1202V
These test cases represent the strongest out of the 5000+ claims to the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) claiming autism causation through vaccine injury and are to inform possible compensation to those claims or not. In all three test cases, the Special Masters found that the petitioners were unable to prove grounds for compensation by evidence sufficient to meet the "Althen standard" [Althen v. HHS].
"It is certainly my hope that our society will find ways to ensure that generous assistance is available to the families of all autistic children, regardless of the cause of their disorders. Such families must cope every day with tremendous challenges in caring for their autistic children, and all are deserving of sympathy and admiration. However, I must decide this case not on sentiment, but by analyzing the evidence. Congress designed the Program to compensate only the families of those individuals whose injuries or deaths can be linked causally, either by a Table Injury presumption or by a preponderance of “causation-in-fact” evidence, to a listed vaccine. In this case, the evidence advanced by the petitioners has fallen far short of demonstrating such a link."
"Petitioners’ theory of vaccine-related causation is scientifically unsupportable. In the absence of a sound medical theory causally connecting William’s received vaccines to his autistic condition, the undersigned cannot find the proposed sequence of cause and effect to be logical or temporally appropriate. Having failed to satisfy their burden of proof under the articulated legal standard, petitioners cannot prevail on their claim of vaccine-related causation."
"Unfortunately, the Dwyers (and uncounted other parents of children with ASD) have relied upon practitioners and researchers who peddled hope, not opinions grounded in science and medicine. My heart goes out to parents like the Dwyers who struggle daily, emotionally and financially, to care for their children, but I must decide cases based on the law and not sentiment. The law in this case requires preponderant evidence that TCVs caused or substantially contributed to Colin’s ASD, and, by that standard, petitioners are not entitled to compensation"
Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services Case No. 98-916V
Snyder v. Secretary of Health and Human Services Case No. 01-162V
Hazlehurst v. Secretary of Health and Human Services Case No. 03-654V
were also rejected by the Special Masters on similar grounds. Judicial reviews of the February 12, 2009 decisions sustained the decisions of the Special Masters. Two of these three cases have filed appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.
Omnibus Autism Proceeding
Audio and transcripts of the Omnibus Autism trials About the Omnibus Autism Proceeding
National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program (VICP) Health Resources and Services Administration U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Call for Public Comment through May 31, 2010: Principles for Quality Undergraduate Education in Psychology
-----------------------------
"The APA Board of Educational Affairs (BEA) has posted the Principles for Quality Undergraduate Education in Psychology (Draft, January 2010) for review and comment. These recommendations were developed following the 2008 APA National Conference on Undergraduate Education in Psychology.
In accordance with Association Rule 30-8, BEA is circulating the Principles for Quality Undergraduate Education in Psychology to APA governance groups, APA Divisions, State Psychological Associations, other organizations in psychology, departments and schools of psychology, and members of the public.
Feedback will be gathered through May 31, 2010. At the conclusion of public comment, the document will be circulated to all APA governance groups with a request that the Council of Representatives approve as Association policy the Principles for Quality Undergraduate Education in Psychology.
In order to submit comments, participants must first register. Registration requires participants to use an email address, and to develop a password.
Select the Principles for Quality Undergraduate Education in Psychology from the list of projects to view instructions, register, and to post comments. To submit feedback, please select "edit comments."
Comments may be submitted through May 31, 2010.
If you have any questions, contact Robin Hailstorks, PhD (RHailstorks@apa.org) or
Martha Boenau (MBoenau@apa.org) at 202-336-6140.
Martha Boenau | Associate Director, Office of Precollege and Undergraduate Programs
A newsstory which received wide international press in November of 2009 was that of Rom Houben, the Belgian patient who was reported as having demonstrated almost miraculous abilities to communicate via Facilitated Communication; this after 23 years of being in a persistent vegetative state after a car accident. Among reports at the time was that Mr. Houben was planning to write a book.
After more rigorous controlled testing by Mr. Houben's neurologist, Dr. Steven Laureys, it has been found that the communication was a function of the Facilitator's communication, not Mr. Houben's.
Please note that the deadline for responding to this RFI is Friday, February 19th, 2010. OppNet is seeking your help in identifying broad priority areas. The purpose of this RFI is not to solicit ideas for specific, individual research proposals.
OppNet Mission
The mission of OppNet is to pursue opportunities for strengthening basic behavioral and social science research (b-BSSR) at the NIH while innovating beyond existing investments.
OppNet Goals
OppNet advances basic behavioral and social science research through activities and initiatives that build a body of knowledge about the nature of behavior and social systems.
OppNet prioritizes activities and initiatives that focus on basic mechanisms of behavior and social processes; that are relevant to the missions and public health challenges of multiple NIH Institutes, Centers and Offices (ICOs); and that build upon existing NIH investments without replicating them.
The 2010 meeting is being held in Philadelphia, PA, May 20-22, 2010. The IMFAR website reports that registration for the 2010 conference is scheduled to open on February 19, 2010.
(February 11, 2010 -- New York, NY) The Autism Science Foundation today announced that is offering a limited number of grants to parents of children with autism and other stakeholders to support attendance at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR), to be held in Philadelphia, May 20-22, 2010. Awards of up to $1000 can be used to cover registration, travel, accommodations, meals and other directly related expenses, including childcare. After the conference, grant recipients will be expected to share what they've learned with families in their local communities and/or online...
**Addition: February 14, 2010 - 7:50 PM PST - Hat tip to Bill Ahearn, Ph.D, BCBA for sharing the tip on the withdrawl of the Neurotoxicology article, and apologies for leaving out that acknowledgment in the original post. Thanks Bill.**
While there are many pieces of science news of potential interest, this has some public newsworthiness because of connection with some recent widely reported events, and because of some extant public circulation and representation of the specific Article in Press as a published scientific article. The exceptional circumstance of such as withdrawl also presents an opportunity to examine the criteria and categories used when scientific research submitted for publication does not proceed to/is withdrawn prior to that publication, or is retracted, removed or replaced subsequent to publication. The specific reason for withdrawl of the Article in Press is not known at this time, although the withdrawl was at the request of the Neurotoxicology Editor.
The article-in-press,
Hewitson, L., Houser, L.A., Stott, C., Sackett, G., Tomko, J.L., Atwood, L.B., White, E.H., & Wakefield, A.J. (2009). WITHDRAWN :Delayed acquisition of neonatal reflexes in newborn primates receiving a thimerosal-containing Hepatitis B vaccine: Influence of gestational age and birth weight. Neurotoxicology.
The "note to users" clarifies the status of this work and the conditions of Withdrawn Articles in Press,
"Note to users: Withdrawn Articles in Press are proofs of articles which have been peer reviewed and initially accepted, but have since been withdrawn before being published in this journal. Reasons for withdrawal may be due to a decision by the author and/or editor, accidental duplication of an article elsewhere, or because the content contravenes the Elsevier publishing policy in some way. Withdrawn Articles in Press are only visible to users when following an external link, e.g., an end user following a PubMed or DOI link. Such Withdrawn Articles in Press are not searchable or otherwise available in ScienceDirect."
additional amplification on the Elsevier policy page of the "exceptional circumstances" which would accompany withdrawl, retraction, removal or replacement of a scholarly scientific work,
"It is a general principle of scholarly communication that the editor of a learned journal is solely and independently responsible for deciding which articles submitted to the journal shall be published. In making this decision the editor is guided by policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements in force regarding libel, copyright infringement and plagiarism.
An outcome of this principle is the importance of the scholarly archive as a permanent, historic record of the transactions of scholarship. Articles that have been published shall remain extant, exact and unaltered as far as is possible. However, very occasionally circumstances may arise where an article is published that must later be retracted or even removed. Such actions must not be undertaken lightly and can only occur under exceptional circumstances, such as:
* Article Withdrawal: Only used for Articles in Press which represent early versions of articles and sometimes contain errors, or may have been accidentally submitted twice. Occasionally, but less frequently, the articles may represent infringements of professional ethical codes, such as multiple submission, bogus claims of authorship, plagiarism, fraudulent use of data or the like..."
The policy page continues with the other categories and conditions.
2/10/10 - 6:45PM PST: post amended to correct day for the date. Also clarifying note that roman numeral "V" = "5".
Wednesday, February 10, 2010 the American Psychiatric Association (APA) unveiled the proposed initial draft recommendations for the fifth version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the manual used to diagnose mental disorders. When completed and adopted, the DSM-V would supercede the current version,Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR).
The American Psychiatric Association has set up a website with the proposed initial draft recommendations of the revisions developed by the DSM-5 Work Groups. Viewers will be able to submit comments until April 20, 2010. After the April 20th date, the site will still be available for viewing, but comments will not longer be taken. Further steps before release would be field testing of the proposed revisions and final changes.
The process for developing the DSM-5 began a decade ago, with an initial research planning conference under the joint sponsorship of the APA and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Additional global research planning conferences, under the auspices of the American Psychiatric Institute for Research and Education (APIRE), the World Health Organization, and three institutes of the National Institutes of Health produced a series of monographs, which helped lay the groundwork for the revisions.
While many changes are planned for the DSM-V, two that were given some attention by the press on Tuesday was the replacement of pediatric bipolar disorder with "Temper Dysregulation Disorder",
and removal of Asperger's Syndrome as a separate diagnosis and placement under the Autism Spectrum Disorder category,
The anticipated release of the DSM-V is May 2013; this release date was delayed from initial projections to allow coordination with the scheduled U.S. implementation on October 1, 2013 of the International Classification of Diseases-10-Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) (World Health Organization/WHO) codes for all Medicare/Medicaid claims reporting. Chapter V of the ICD-10-CM is Mental and behavioral disorders. A related development is that the ICD is also in revision to ICD-11 - that revised version is expected to be released in 2014 or 2015.
[This article discusses the timeline for the DSM-V and steps towards the final version and coordination witht he ICD-10-CM] Why is DSM-5 Being Delayed? Alan F. Schatzberg, M.D. Psychiatric News January 1, 2010 Volume 45 Number 1 Page 3
[This article gives a quick rundown on some proposed revisions] APA Releases Proposed Draft of the DSM-5 Caroline Cassels Medscape Medical News February 10, 2010
[In reference to the folding of Asperger's Syndrome into the Autism Spectrum Disorders] Opinion: Disorder Out of Chaos By ROY RICHARD GRINKER New York Times Published: February 9, 2010
This report describes the history of the IACC and Plan, the process by which the IACC develops the Plan, revisions, new areas of research emphasis - for example, increased emphasis on adults and non-verbal persons with ASDs - and then in each section elaborates the itemized questions in the broad categories, discussing what is known, what needs remain, proposed research opportunities to address these questions (short-term and long-term objectives), and a recommended budget. The 2010 Plan adds 32 brand-new objectives and describes a budget of about 965 million dollars distributed over 2 to 5 years.
Preface
Introduction
1. When Should I Be Concerned?
2. How Can I Understand What Is Happening?
3. What Caused This To Happen And Can This Be Prevented?
4. Which Treatments And Interventions Will Help?
5. Where Can I Turn For Services?
6. What Does The Future Hold?
7. What other Infrastructure and Surveillance Needs Must be Met?
Research Resources
Participation in a meeting automatically adds the attendee to an email list to receive further notices from the IACC on meetings, RFIs, reports and other activities. There is also an IACCTwitter group where committee meeting schedules and notices are shared.
-------------------------------
For Further Readingand Reference
These references can also be found on the IACC website.
On February 2, 2010, the prestigious UK medical journal The Lancet published a formal retraction of the 1998 paper authored by Dr. Andrew Wakefield and 12 co-authors asserting that the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine (MMR) was linked to gastrointestinal disturbance and pervasive developmental disorders. Such a retraction constitutes a repudiation of the findings and a removal from the scientific record; in essence as if the article was never originally published.
removing from the scientific record, Wakefield, A.J., Murch, S.H., Anthony, A., Linnell, J., Casson, D.M., Malik,M., et al. (1998). Ileal-lymphoid-nodular hyperplasia, non-specific colitis, and pervasive developmental disorder in children. The Lancet, 351(9103), 637-641.
This retraction comes just days after the January 28, 2010 ruling by the UK's General Medical Council in a 2 1/2 year investigation of allegations that Wakefield and two co-authors, John Walker-Smith and Simon Murch were guilty of serious breaches of research ethics, and engaged in unethical practice and non-adherence to the terms of ethics committee approval for the research described in the 1998 article. Wakefield in particular was reprimanded for dishonesty and irresponsibility in the conducting of the research for the 1998 article. Previous to this hearing, 10 of the 13 original authors of the study retracted their names from the article.
Wakefield, Walker-Smith and Murch will return before the GMC in early April, at which time it will be determined whether there was guilt of serious professional misconduct. In the event of such a determination, sanctions up to loss of license to practice medicine could be applied.
------------------------------- References and for further reading
Murch, S.H., Anthony, A., Casson, D.H., Malik, M., Berelowitz, M., Dhillon, A.P., Valentine, A., Davies, S.E., & Walker-Smith, J.A. (2004). Retraction of an interpretation. The Lancet, 363(9411), 750. This article is stated by The Lancet to be available free of charge with registration.
A collaboration of The Maine Department of Health and Human Service & The Maine Department of Education recently issued an evaluative report of research evidence for various interventions for autism spectrum disorders.
A helpful discussion of evidence and summary table can be found on pages 8-10
The Winter 2010 issue/volume 7(1) of Science in Autism Treatment, the newsletter of the Association for Science in Autism Treatment contains a useful summary and discussion on the Maine report,
Myers, S.M., Plauche Johnson, C., (2007). Clinical report: Management of children with autism spectrum disorders.Pediatrics, 120(5),1162-1182. (doi:10.1542/peds.2007-2362) AAP Policy - American Academy of Pediatrics NB: Applied behavior analysis and functional behavior analysis covered under "Specific Strategies" on page 1164, under "Speech and Language Therapy" on page 1165, under "Social Skills Training" on page 1165, under "Comparative Efficacy of Educational Interventions for Young Children" on page 1166, under "Programs for Older Children and Adolescents" on page 1166.
RELATED PRESENTATIONS, GROUPS, BOOKS & POSTS AUTISM
Presentation: 7. Behavior Analytic Research in the Treatment of Autism David Celiberti, Ph.D., BCBA "An overview of the state of research in autism that evaluates behavior analytic and non–behavior analytic treatments will be presented, with an emphasis on considerations for future research in applied settings." Presented Monday August 4 at the 2008 National Autism Conference. August 4–8, 2008 Penn State, Pennsylvania (scroll down the page to the presentation, handouts, and audio of the presentation)
Effective Practices for children with autism: Educational and behavior support interventions that work. (2008). New York: Luiselli, J.K., Russo, D.C., Christian, C.P, & Wilczynski, S.M. (Editors). New York: Oxford University Press, USA. ISBN-13: 978-0-19-531704-6 [Google books limited preview]
Early intervention for autism spectrum disorders: a critical analysis. Matson, J.L., & Minshawi, N.F. (2006). Amsterdam: Elsevier Ltd. ISBN-13: 978-0-08-044675-2 [Google books limited preview]
