Book Review – The Complete Guide to Autism Treatments

by Benison O'Reilly on Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

I was recently given a copy of The Complete Guide to Autism Treatments (2007), by Sabrina Karen Freeman. Dr Freeman is a Canadian with a doctorate from Stanford University and a daughter on the autism spectrum.

My alarm bells tinkled when I noticed it was published by a company called SKF Books (Sabrina Karen Freeman?); that is, it appears self-published. That’s always a slightly worrying sign. Is it a book written by someone pushing an agenda?

Well, yes, Dr Freeman is pushing an agenda, but it’s not an agenda driven by self-gain. She is promoting science-based treatments for ASD and thus I thoroughly approve.  It’s a no-nonsense book, with a no-nonsense cover, which I suspect reflects the personality of its author. Dr Freeman calls it as she sees it.

In essence The Complete Guide to Autism Treatments is a longer and more comprehensive discussion of Chapters 4 (Early Intervention) and 6 (The Medical Maze) in the Australian Autism Handbook.  (This is not meant to be a criticism of the AAH—we always intended our book to be an introduction to the topic of ASDs rather than a definitive account!) If there are any parents out there who are interested in reading more about the science behind autism treatments they could do worse than buy this book.

Do I have any criticisms? Yes, the book is a little bit gung ho in its endorsement of intensive behavioural intervention—suggesting trials comparing it with other less-proven early intervention models would be unethical—but she’s right in her assertion that it is one of the few true evidence-based treatments for ASDs. And, though this is hardly the author’s fault, it was written in 2007 so some of the research has moved on from that time—an unavoidable downside of print publications.  (On that note, we are planning to publish a second, updated edition of the AAH in late 2011.)

Section One of the book is called: What Works and What Doesn’t? and is a therapy by therapy dissection of the various early intervention models, biomedical treatments, speech and language therapies and so-called ‘miscellaneous’ therapies (such as sensory integration, art and dolphin therapies). Dr Freeman looks at the evidence—or more commonly the lack of evidence—supporting these interventions.

Section Two is even more useful. It’s entitled How Do We Know What Works and What Doesn’t. If a parent applies the principles explained in this section, they will have the skills to examine the claims made about any new therapy they encounter, and be able to discern real science from ‘snake-oil’ (to use the author’s term).  Just as the catchphrase from the movie Jerry Maguire is ‘Show me the money!’; Dr Freeman’s is ‘Show me the data!’

The conclusion of the book has a great section called ‘Red flags for quackery’. I won’t list all the author’s points, but do especially like her observation that ‘glossy sell sheets and videos’ for a therapy are a quackery red flag. As she explains: ‘Generally scientists do not waste grant money on attempting to sell their research, and then take it prematurely out of the lab and into the population at large. Genuine scientists are the least likely to use marketing tools of persuasion.’

Anyway, if I’ve piqued your interest check it out (not sure if it’s available as a e-book, Seana). And don’t forget World Autism Awareness Day on April 2nd.

Tags: autism, Books, treatments