Promoting Speech in a 7 year old Non-verbal Child with Autism

I was recently asked if I would be happy to talk to the parents of a 7 year old non-verbal child with autism.  I agreed to share what I have learned so far from both behavioural interventions and more recently from drug therapy.  I decided that a dedicated post could also be very useful.

When Monty, now aged 10, was diagnosed with autism aged three and a half, he embarked on a home-based ABA programme, soon complemented by the use of PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System).  PECS is great, and when correctly implemented, clearly can work wonders.  Sadly, most people take shortcuts and just laminate a few pictures, stick them on the fridge and say they are “doing PECS”.

Click below to see short training videos:-

Phase 1 PECS

Phase 2 PECS

 

Once a non-verbal child has a communication system, be it PECS or sign language, then he/she can open up to the world.  Often speech then follows, but not always.

Monty learned to talk using ABA, PECS and special computer software.

With what I have since learned about the possibility of safe and effective drug therapy, I would do things slightly differently.  I would keep all the ABA and PECS and just add Bumetanide, NAC and Atorvastatin.  I can never know if Monty would have then spoken earlier, but I am pretty sure that would have been the effect.

 

Science based, not “Biomedical”, not Complimentary Medicine and not DAN!

Just in case you are wondering, my findings are based on reading the scientific literature on autism and its comorbidities.  I decide what research looks sound and what looks dubious; I draw my own conclusions.  “Biomedical” is a word that has been hijacked to apply to therapies that we would like to work, but usually lack a thorough grounding in science.  DAN seems to stand for trying everything, “Biomedical” and more.  Nonetheless, within the hundreds of DAN therapies are at least one or two that do stand up to scientific investigation.  

By applying a very blinkered view to the existing research, the Medical Establishment’s general view continues to be that autism is pretty much untreatable.  Having accepted this view myself for several years, I have learned that this view is fundamentally flawed; you just have to objectively follow the science and do a little research yourself.

 

7 years old and non-verbal

The longer a child remains non-verbal, the more challenging it becomes.  After a long period of time a child will just not see the point of changing.  It may cease to be a biological problem and become just a behavioural problem.

My combination of Bumetanide, NAC and Atorvastatin is as close as you can ever get with drugs to being risk free.  This has been a prerequisite of mine.  If after 7 years my child was non-verbal, I would probably be willing to take additional risks, but still nothing without clearly understood boundaries.

For the last few years we have had a little box in our kitchen drug cabinet marked “emergency asthma drug, one a half tablets”.  We have never had to actually use this drug.  The drug is Prednisone and it is for use when an acute asthma attack does not respond to the Ventolin “rescue” inhaler.  Prednisone is a corticosteroid, widely available, cheap and saves lives; but long term use can have major side effects. 

Prednisone lowers the body's immune system.  The science suggests that the overactive/damaged immune system in autism is a factor behind the autistic behaviours in children with ASD.  It would seem logical that temporarily lowering the immune system might trigger behavioral change in autsim, such as regaining lost speech or initiating it.  The most serious doctor I could find who is knowledgeable about this subject is Dr Michael Chez, of the Pediatric Neurology and Autism Neurodevelopmental Program, Sutter Neuroscience Institute in Sacramento California.

 

He wrote a paper I have already referred to in this blog called:-

Immune Therapy in Autism: Historical Experience and Future Directions with Immunomodulatory Therapy

In that paper he talks of his knowledge of the effects of prednisone on children with autism and he mentions the dosage used.

. Treatment was usually prescribed with daily prednisone doses of 2 mg/kg/day for 3 to 6 months. Limitations to therapy were usually Cushingoid side effects. As in other chronic conditions requiring steroids, pulse dosing was tried with steroids in the form of prednisone or prednisolone at 5 to 10 mg/kg twice per week.  

Long-term success with no dependence or minimal Cushingoid effects has been noted in several hundred patients treated in this manner (Chez, unpublished data, personal communication).

In all, 17 of 32 patients showed response to prednisone after 2 to 4 months of  treatment (53%). Improvements were seen on EEG and  in language skills of the patients. Other steroid treatment series of regressed language in autistic spectrum patients diagnosed with LKS variant showed improved language with pulse-dose steroids.

Going to California is not an option for most people, but if I had a 7 year old non-verbal child with autism and ABA/PECS did not help initiate speech, then I would certainly read up on what he is suggesting.  I would still focus the time and effort on ABA/PECS and just hope that the drugs provide a little extra push.