Janice Frost works in a pre-K class for disabled students, where she has gained considerable experience working with autistic children. She understands the symptoms, causal factors and traditional methods of treatment. What she understands more than anything, though, is that for the boy she is currently working with, treatment is not working.
“I was getting concerned about the child I now have,” Frost said. “He’s on medication and every week he seems to be having more symptoms. The drugs are driving him crazy.”
Realizing that the medicated boy was not improving, Frost started researching different medical theories and treatment options. During her research, she learned of an upcoming autism workshop she hoped would provide additional answers.
That workshop, held Monday night at the Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave., was presented by the Foundation for Wellness Professionals, an association of professional healthcare speakers devoted to educating the public. Led by Dr. Constance Black, the workshop explored the role of vaccines as a possible cause of autism, and also the recent success of alternative treatment options.
“One of the reasons I’m here is that I have a special interest in kids,” Black said. “Overall, their health seems to have diminished quite a bit, and the number of autism cases in particular has reached epidemic proportions.”
Autism, because of its many different manifestations and degrees of severity, is known as a “spectrum disorder.” According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, autism spectrum disorders are collectively defined as a group of developmental disabilities characterized by unusual behavior and interests and impairments in social interaction and communication.
The disorder has become remarkably prevalent in recent years, with the CDC reporting in 2007 that 1 in 150 8-year-old children in the United States were diagnosed with some degree of autism. According to Dr. Black, the disorder, which is more common in boys, costs $35 billion per year in the U.S.
Black began by exploring the possible causes of autism, saying that genetics alone cannot explain what is happening. The discussion turned to the controversial idea that substances found in common vaccines have a significant link to the onset of autistic disorders.
Until 2002, most vaccines contained thimerosal, a preservative containing mercury, Black said. Mercury has become the focus for medical professionals who hypothesize that its presence in vaccines could have produced toxicity levels high enough to cause neurological damage, and in some cases autism. (The CDC says there is no conclusive evidence of a link between vaccines and autism.)
Black went on to say that vaccines contain a variety of other substances that could be potentially dangerous. In addition to the fact that Americans know little about the contents of vaccines, Black said that the sheer amount now given to children is a topic of concern.
“The average 6-year-old today has had as many as 40 vaccinations,” she said. “It should also be considered that there isn’t a difference in dosages for adults and children, and we still don’t know the effect these vaccines have on overall health.”
The second part of the discussion focused on alternative treatment methods for autism that have been explored in recent years.
Many doctors recommend detoxifying the body of heavy metals using nutritional cleanses and chelating agents, Black said. The agent, usually a natural mineral called zeolite, attaches to metals in the body and removes them through urine and feces. Black said that this process led to moderate improvement in several cases of autistic children.
Black, who is a practicing chiropractor in downtown Evanston, introduced another method which focuses on chiropractic treatment. Physical trauma could be enough to upset the nerves and cause neurological disorders such as autism.
“The nerves are very sensitive,” Black said. “I, along with many other doctors, believe that a healthy nervous system could lead to improvements in a lot of these children.”
In this treatment, the chiropractor performs something called “adjustment,” which focuses on adjusting the upper spine of the child. According to Black, many treated children improve their verbal skills and physical movements.
Though these treatments offered hope to some audience members, others were more skeptical.
Mary Tures, an Evanston resident, has long believed that her niece has showed behavioral tendencies associated with autism. She came in hopes of learning more about the disorder.
“It wasn’t really what I was expecting,” said Tures. “I thought she would talk more about the condition, and this seemed like they were trying to promote this new treatment.”
For Frost, the information that was provided at the meeting confirmed that drugs alone are not the answer for the boy she currently works with.
“I now fully believe that the medication he’s getting is not the answer,” she said. “It gives me more force to sit with his mom and say, ‘Stop giving him this medication.’ We’ve done this for a year, now we’re going to see what else can help him.”
