The DAN list
The Autism Research Insitute (USA) has now suspended its clinician registry, which was often called ‘the DAN list”. They now advise parents seeking help for a child to contact local support groups, and to be critical and ask some searching questions of practitioners. They also say;If a practitioner claims to “cure” autism, run in the other direction.All of this I agree with.They also the following list of questions, formulated they say by several experienced parents. They are reasonable questions, so I thought it reasonable to post my answers here. It may save you some time and effort.What led you to become a clinician using the ARI approach? How do you stay current with emerging treatments?I have admired Bernie Rimland ever since meeting him in about 1982. My own son was having some problems at about that time, and we got some success treating him as ADHD with diet etc.; it was not until recently that he was able to diagnose himself as “borderline Asperger’s”. So I had some personal interest, and was already moving into AEN medicine (allergy, environment, nutrition). Since then that has developed into ecological medicine, and the concern about what we are doing to our home planet is relevant to ASD; we still release about 180 tonnes of mercury into the global environment every year, for instance. |
I have been involved for some time in organising most of the conferences and training put on by the British Society for Ecological Medicine - ecomed.org.uk - of which I am current president. I will be opening our conference this March, at which Andrew Wakefield is only one of the speakers. I also have regular multidisciplinary meetings in our practice, the New Medicine Group, in Harley St - http://newmedicinegroup.com/ - I’m the one drowning at the back of the group photo. I often find myself collaborating with Bevis Nathan in treating kids, for instance. Are your patients required to use special diets such as GF/CF, SCD, low-oxalate, etc. Why, or why not? Usually parents have tried several of these diets before coming to see me, and more often than not they have seen some benefit from them. If needed I am happy to support and assist them in trying out the diets, and in ensuring that the child gets fed as well as possible while doing so. I don’t require them to do anything though; it’s a collaboration, and every parent of a child with ASD or related problems is an “expert patient”. You have to be careful of putting a child on too many diets, though; often it’s good to have an expert guide you through this maze. Approximately how many individuals with autism have you treated? What age range?In the hundreds. The CQC don’t allow us to treat children under 3 these days (I have in the past), but from there to adults. Always assuming that we agree there is a spectrum that includes ASD, ADHD and PDD, and you can be anywhere on that. Every child is unique. |