163 Unestablished Treatments

Facilitated Communication

In facilitated communication the caregiver helps the child communicate, often with a keyboard. The caregiver’s hand on the individual’s hand or arm to help the individual type. Research has shown that most sentences in facilitated communication come from the caregiver and not the individual. An example may help this idea make sense. When given a picture, caregivers are guiding individuals to type what they see. It is common that the individual may not be looking at the keyboard and know what he or she is typing. They may see the picture, but not know they are typing the name or description. This finding suggests that the caregiver may have played the key role in the process with few ideas being those of the individual. This intervention has not been supported for use with ASD.

Sensory Integration

Individuals with ASD frequently show sensory sensitivities. Some individuals may cover their ears at everyday sounds. Others may refuse to touch or eat certain things because of how they feel. Some individuals with ASD may like to look at objects from odd angles. These behaviors suggest sensory sensitivity. Some individuals may also show odd links between senses; for example gagging when touching certain objects. According to the principles of sensory integration, with support, the individual can learn to better integrate his or her sensory systems. As a result, they will be better able to respond to the input received each day through the various sensory systems. Ultimately, anxiety and behavior can decrease as a result of the sensory integration process. Adequate study has not yet been conducted.

Dietary Interventions

Some individuals with ASD have digestive problems or food allergies. As a result, they often feel ill after eating and consequently behave in unusual ways. It has been theorized that removing some foods from the diets of individuals with ASD will make them feel better, resulting in decreased likelihood to have behavior problems and improved or decreased symptoms of ASD. Two commonly targeted foods are gluten (found in wheat products) and casein (found in milk products). Other foods that have also been excluded from diets include certain food dyes or preservatives. Though it makes inherent sense that feeling better will generally help with outcomes, adequate research has not been conducted on these diets to verify the direct correlation of these diets to such.