Laura Shumaker was struggling with her son鈥檚 autism diagnosis back in 1993 when she saw an Oprah episode in which a parent announced that her child had been cured of autism by using a 鈥渓istening program.鈥�
鈥淚 thought, 鈥極h, that鈥檚 it聽鈥� he鈥檚 just sensitive to sound,鈥欌�� Shumaker said. Her son鈥檚 therapist recommended against the treatment, which had no research to back it.
鈥淏ut Peter and I were already carried away by the wave of information we had gathered on auditory training…. What if Matthew鈥檚 autism was caused by hypersensitivity to sound, and what if this one treatment improved his life forever? And how guilty would we feel if someday, some specialist said, 鈥業f only he鈥檇 had auditory training when he was six,鈥欌�� Shumaker wrote in her 2008 memoir, .
The driving force
That search for the one thing that might 鈥渇lip the switch鈥� for a child with autism 鈥� or other conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or learning disabilities like dyslexia 鈥� drives parents to explore, research, experiment, and buy countless remedies in the hopes that something will cure their child.
Shumaker and her husband shelled out $3,000 for the auditory treatment, on top of what they were already spending on speech therapy and a psychologist, but they figured it was a good investment. 鈥淲e thought it would cure him,鈥� she said in an interview with GreatSchools.
Might this be the one?
And that鈥檚 the key to why parents are vulnerable to such claims. What parent wouldn鈥檛 do whatever she could to end her child鈥檚 problems? And how would she feel if maybe, just maybe, that one thing would make a difference?
Though there is no cure for autism, the claims continue. A Google search on 鈥渁utism cures鈥� turns up almost 25 million hits.
鈥淭he problem with scams is that they offer parents their wildest dreams about having a child who is 鈥榥ormal,鈥欌�� says Rory Stern, the publisher of . 鈥淓veryone is looking for a quick fix.鈥�
Ultimately, when the “listening therapy” didn鈥檛 work for Matthew, Shumaker was able to come to terms with the fact that his autism was a lifelong issue. 鈥淚 got a grip,鈥� she said. Even so, in the years since, Shumaker and her husband have tried vitamins, therapy, and medication to help their son.
鈥淚t鈥檚 your job as a parent to do everything you can,鈥� she said. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛, you feel guilty.鈥�
Various treatments for autism have made national news (chelation, gluten-free diets, hyperbaric chambers, and more), but it鈥檚 not just autism that attracts claims of miracle cures. Over the years there have been many programs that trumpet miraculous results for children with AD/HD, Down syndrome, and dyslexia.
Reading between the lines
But anyone who promises a cure for dyslexia is 鈥渕isguided,鈥� said Elizabeth Ditz, a parent who has tracked and commented on dozens of so-called miracle cures on her blog, . Or 鈥渢hey鈥檙e lying through their teeth,鈥� she added with a laugh.
Ditz鈥檚 daughter, now 20, was diagnosed with dyslexia when she was in second grade. A self-described 鈥渋nformation nerd,鈥� Ditz read everything she could get her hands on concerning the reading disability. Armed with the knowledge of what dyslexia is, she said her 鈥淏S meter鈥� went off frequently when she read about assorted claims of cures.
When Ditz went to a presentation about a weeklong intensive program near her home in northern California, those alarms were ringing madly. 鈥淗e was marketing a program where after a week it was: 鈥榢id fixed, problem solved,鈥欌�� she said. And a claim like that, backed by parent testimonials but no scientific studies, is hard to resist. The problem is, according to Ditz, 鈥渋t鈥檚 a lot of time, a lot of money, and it doesn鈥檛 work.鈥�
Ultimately, Ditz and her husband sent their daughter to a 黄色app that used an Orton-Gillingham approach. Her daughter is now in her second year of college.
Ditz doesn鈥檛 discount that any number of interventions might help a child with a learning disability, but there is no one thing that will take away the diagnosis. 鈥淲ith an LD, there is natural improvement,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not sure what causes the improvement. It could be the focused attention; it could be a natural maturation.鈥�
Looking for the quick fix
Rory Stern, who works with kids with AD/HD and their parents, thinks that the cure claims are able to flourish because there is a basic lack of education about what these learning difficulties are.
鈥淲e are a weakness-based society,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e look for what鈥檚 wrong, so parents get the idea that 鈥榤y child is broken, and I need to fix him.鈥欌��
He encourages parents to tune out all the 鈥渘oise鈥� about their child鈥檚 diagnosis and to focus on his or her specific needs. Then find a specialist in that area to help guide them.
When families come to him saying they want to try some new therapy or supplement, Stern gets them to focus on their goal 鈥� and set realistic expectations for any treatment.
Ultimately, while many therapies, medication, and even supplements might help a child with a disability, that child still needs to work on basic skills related to his or her disability, Stern points out. No vitamin in the world is going to teach a kid to read.
December 2009
