2008 Woodie Awards
Autism conference draws 500 attendees
Doug Graham
Issue date: 6/26/08 Section: Campus Life
In fact, these parents are becoming less and less alone. Autism diagnoses have increased dramatically in the past decade, leading to many theories on its cause.
While many, including Commons and Summers, believe autism is sometimes caused by a substance called thiomersal that is used in certain vaccines, most mainstream scientists say there is no evidence to suggest a causal relationship between thiomersal and autism.
Many schools of thought also exist on how to treat autism. Vendors selling enzymes, specially formulated food, books and even hyperbaric chambers were spread throughout a main hallway in the high school, each offering information about these products.
Carrie Hahn, a speech therapist based in Wichita who specializes in helping autistic kids, says she learned a great deal about the "biomedical stuff" that factors into autism treatment. She says the amount of information she heard was "overwhelming," but she hopes to share it with the parents of her patients.
"I have a lot of families asking for my opinion on (biomedical factors such as thiomersal), and I don't have much to base it on," Hahn said. "It's given me at least information to know, if families ask me what is this or what is that, I can explain it to them in a short version and say that families have to do what makes sense to them."
Barry Plumlee, who works for Crawford County Mental Health, says he learned the most about dietary treatments. More important, he says he's gained a new attitude toward autism.
"It's just the attitude that it's not just a fixed, genetic disease," Plumlee said. "It's something that can be worked with."
Of the attendance, Commons says: "It's not what we thought in the beginning, but knowing that our big keynote speaker dropped, I still consider it a success."
While many, including Commons and Summers, believe autism is sometimes caused by a substance called thiomersal that is used in certain vaccines, most mainstream scientists say there is no evidence to suggest a causal relationship between thiomersal and autism.
Many schools of thought also exist on how to treat autism. Vendors selling enzymes, specially formulated food, books and even hyperbaric chambers were spread throughout a main hallway in the high school, each offering information about these products.
Carrie Hahn, a speech therapist based in Wichita who specializes in helping autistic kids, says she learned a great deal about the "biomedical stuff" that factors into autism treatment. She says the amount of information she heard was "overwhelming," but she hopes to share it with the parents of her patients.
"I have a lot of families asking for my opinion on (biomedical factors such as thiomersal), and I don't have much to base it on," Hahn said. "It's given me at least information to know, if families ask me what is this or what is that, I can explain it to them in a short version and say that families have to do what makes sense to them."
Barry Plumlee, who works for Crawford County Mental Health, says he learned the most about dietary treatments. More important, he says he's gained a new attitude toward autism.
"It's just the attitude that it's not just a fixed, genetic disease," Plumlee said. "It's something that can be worked with."
Of the attendance, Commons says: "It's not what we thought in the beginning, but knowing that our big keynote speaker dropped, I still consider it a success."
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