Dateline Special on the “cure” of chelation
This evening, June 4th, at 7pm (EST) MSNBC Dateline is airing a ten-minute feature on autism and chelation therapy. Chelation is a treatment for autistic children based on the theory that they have an excessive amount of heavy metals (such as lead) in their systems. It is a controversial treatment for autism, especially after the death of a child last year while undergoing chelation therapy in a doctor’s office outside of Pittsburgh.
Lenny Schafer of the Schafer Autism Report bills tonight’s Dateline special as “Autism Recovery Story on National TV.” Dateline producer Alexandra Gleysteen has this to say about the film:
We heard even more dramatic claims that chelation had helped “cure” children of autism. Now, it may or may not be true, but you can understand why parents would want to believe something good could happen for their children. We learned early on in this story that the parents of autistic children rarely give up.
Definitely true; my husband and I never, ever give up. But there seems to be an equation here between “curing” child of autism and “something good” happening for those “cured” children with autism. “Cure” is a fighting word in the autism community and I am not comfortable with the Dateline special’s suggestion that only by “curing” an autistic child (like Charlie) of autism can “something good” happen for him.
The Dateline special profiles Arizona State University Materials Science and Engineering professor James B. Adams:
I [Ms. Gleysteen] think that if I were an autistic child, he’d be the kind of father I’d want to have. He sees beyond convention, but uses reason, and he is totally devoted to children with autism. In today’s vernacular, he’s got their back.
When Jim and his wife, Marie, learned that their daughter Kim was autistic, their reaction was pretty normal. They grieved when doctors predicted a depressing future for their two year old, one without language, independence, friendship or hope. But they quickly rallied and became incredible advocates and activists for their autistic child.
What would be an “abnormal” reaction to an autism diagnosis for one’s child?
The Dateline report continues:
One of the first things Jim did when he got the news about Kim was to trade in the study of materials engineering for the study of heavy metals and brain chemistry. Today he’s considered an expert on how vitamins and minerals interact with the brain, especially autistic brains. Marie and Jim have changed almost every other aspect of everyday life as well: from how they schedule their days (by putting Kim’s endless needs for tutoring, therapy and treatment first), to how they clean their house (no chemicals that could upset Kim’s sensitive system), to how they eat (lots of protein and no wheat for Kim.)
Being around them while shooting this story, you can tell that they don’t consider these changes in lifestyle an obligation. It’s just another expression of their love for a girl doctors wrote off years ago. And by the way, they’ve proven those doctors wrong. While Kim’s future is still uncertain, the fact is that at twelve, she still lives at home, communicates with language, plays games with her older sister, rides a bus to school and hugs you endlessly.
Along with Matt Boral, a doctor, from the Southwest School of Naturopathic Medicine (SCNM), Professor Adams (who is also an Adjunct Professor in the Division of Basic Medical Sciences at SCNM) is conducting a double-blind, placebo controlled study on chelation.
Ms. Gleysteen’s commentary on the Dateline autism and chelation special ends with her noting that she is doing this story because “we all want the answers.”
I am not sure if her “we” includes all members of the autism community, just as I am not sure that chelation is an “answer.” I am sure that it seems a bit more than misleading—questionable, indeed–for the Schafer Autism Report to announce the Dateline special as an “autism recovery story.”
Again, an autistic child receiving chelation therapy in a doctor’s office outside of Pittsburgh died last year. That is hardly “autism recovery”—hardly “recovery” at all.
5 opinions for Dateline Special on the “cure” of chelation
María Luján
Jun 4, 2006 at 8:40 am
Hi Kristina
I have also very big problems with the word “cure”. In my personal understanding, this is the most controversial position, and it is not a semantic problem only. It is a whole attitude, that for some implies that acceptance or love without conditions is not part of the fact of being a parent of autistic child.
Chelation is the treatment of heavy metal poisoning, if present in autistic children and confirmed under trustable tests in trustable labs under the advice of trustable doctors, for me. IF some of all these conditions is not met, I have very big concerns about the application of this therapy.
You can test , detect and treat a lot of medical conditions in an autistic child… but this does not mean to see your autistic child like a collection of medical problems or a problem.
You can see autism with an inherent genetic component and with an extrinsic component related to the interaction of genetics with the environment… but this does not imply to neglect your autistic child´s soul or his/her unique importance in your life. Autism does not conditionates love for my autistic child ( in fact nothing conditionates it).
You can fight for proper medical treatments…. But this does not imply that you will harm your child “to cure” the autism with everything you can find. You can fight for life quality and improvements and have a lot of expectations… because you can have the best of both worlds. Happiness in this sense is an election.
María Luján
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jun 4, 2006 at 8:52 am
Thanks, María—–the commentary by Ms. Gleysteen struck me as having the air of promoting the positive effects seen in some children from chelation without addressing the larger criticisms. LIke you, while it is tough to see Charlie struggle, we love him at every single moment—and even all the more because he struggles.
No cure needed for that.
squaregirl
Jun 4, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Hi Kristina,
I am anxious to see this special and how the situation is portrayed, because well, I know one of the children who is going to be featured on the special and I am quite curious about what the standard was to designate this child as “recovered” or “Cured”. Gosh, I think I might have a lot to say after I see it, but I have a lot of feelings and concerns that i will refrain from speaking about until I actually see it.
Kristina Chew, PhD
Jun 4, 2006 at 5:24 pm
Thanks, SquareGirl—the tone of the Dateline commentary struck me as sensationalizing. Joseph at Natural Variation posted this.
New Study on Heavy Metal Toxicity and Detoxification By…….
Sep 30, 2008 at 4:32 am
[…] professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Arizona State University; he was interviewed in a 2006 Dateline special on chelation. Vitamin Diagnostics, which another author, Tapan Audhyaf, is affiliated with, is located in […]
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