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Edmond family finds hope in autism care
EDMOND — Luke Forbat is an autistic child who swims competitively, is a skilled pianist and loves solving jigsaw puzzles.
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Expert opinion
Dr. Bryan Jepson
of The Thoughtful House Center for Autism in Austin, Texas, discusses autism.
How can parents best filter through the magnitude, and often conflicting, information about autism and autism treatment?
Unfortunately, it is often required that parents do their own homework. Many physicians are still undereducated about autism and how to treat it. Much of what they have heard or read is not up-to-date or entirely factual. ... The most important thing is to find a medical doctor who has had experience treating autism.
Can autism truly be cured?
A cure would suggest that the issue has resolved completely and no longer requires any treatment intervention. There are some children who had autism that would meet this definition. But, I think it is a small group. A larger group is children who are functionally recovered, meaning that they will lead a functional ... life even if they may still need ongoing maintenance treatment with medications, diets, supplements, social support, etc.
What is a common misconception about autism?
The biggest misconception is that autism is a rare genetic developmental disorder. (It) is no longer rare. ... It is a metabolic disorder that affects that brain but also affects other organ systems including the immune system.
Defeat Autism Now conference
When: This weekend
Where: Embassy Suites Hotel and Convention Center, 2501 Conference Drive, in Norman
Contact: For a schedule or to register, go to www.
regonline.com/
ari-oklahoma.
Cost: $49 to $145.
To outsiders, he seems like a typical 11-year-old.
It’s an atypical treatment protocol that is helping him recover from autism, Luke’s parents say.
The therapy involves treating medical problems like gastrointestinal disease that many autistic children suffer, which some doctors believe contribute to the psychiatric problems that result in autism.
For Luke, that means a special diet free of glutens and dairy, with regular medications and vitamins and behavioral therapy.
Luke’s parents, Sue Ann and David Forbat, say their son has gone from a 4-year-old who didn’t know his name but obsessively counted and repeated the alphabet, to a high-functioning level that allowed him to finish sixth grade at his private school.
"Our child has not recovered but he has dramatically improved,” Sue Ann Forbat said. "He’s better because his body is healthier so we are able to make progress with the other treatments.”
She is on the board of directors of Aaron’s Bridge, an Oklahoma nonprofit sponsoring the Defeat Autism Now conference Saturday and Sunday in Norman.
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