The "Placebo Effect" and Autism Treatments
Friday April 20, 2007
Parents of children with autism may try a dozen or more different treatments. Most are not expected to cure autism - instead, they're intended to "improve symptoms."
Did the treatment actually have the intended outcome? It can be very hard to say. And for parents with special needs children, it can be tempting to see improvement where it isn't really present. How do you know whether apparent improvements are for real - or whether they're the result of the "placebo effect?"
This article explains what the placebo effect is - and how it might be important for parents with children on the autism spectrum.
Comments
The whole issue of placebo effect is laughable.
When we put my son on the CF GF diet he did not know that his diet had changed. But we saw improvements all the same. these were verified by comments from his key worker at nursery (who was unaware of the diet change)
the same occured with SCD Diet and B6 and B12 vitamin suppliments.
It is a popular misconception by the medical and scientific professions that parents are unable to work in a scientific manner or have some kind of delusional illness affecting them all of them. The truth is that most parents taking on treatments (behavioral or biomedical) have researched them and have a high level of understanding and support through.
The purpose of the article is to help parents distinguish between the placebo effect and true effectiveness - not to suggest that treatments never work!! If you were able to clearly distinguish improvement and link it directly to changes in your child’s diet, you’ve done him a tremendous service. Congratulations!
Lisa