Keynote address: Martha Herbert, MD, PhD

Speaker Presentations:

Evodokia Anagnostou, MD

Presentation Title: What parents need to know about medications and autism!

Abstract: This talk will review the evidence for existing medications that may be useful for the treatment of irritability/aggression, repetitive behaviours, hyperactivity/inattention, and anxiety. The emerging data to support the development of new compounds for other chemical targets in the brain will also be discussed.

Dennis Debbaudt

Presentation Title: Plan Your Response to an Autism Emergency

Abstract: This session's topics include: • Proactive disclosure tools-options • Wandering • Contact with police and first responders • Safety at home, on campus and when traveling • 911 data base alerts • Developing an autism emergency handout • Sharing deescalation techniques • Developing IEP goals for safety • Reducing victimization • Safety & Risk life skills training • Developing partnerships with law enforcement agencies

Wendy Edwards, MD

Presentation Title: Biomedical Treatments for Autism – An Overview.

Abstract: This talk will cover three main areas of medical dysfunction in the patient with autism and how to treat them: gastrointestinal dysbiosis and inflammation; abnormalities of the immune system; and metabolic abnormalities leading to increased oxidative stress and abnormal detoxification. While discussing each area, reference will be made to research studies/journal articles to support the findings and treatment use.

Richard Fry, MD, PhD

Presentation Title: Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Autism

Abstract: The evidence for mitochondrial dysfunction in children with autism has been growing. This lecture will discuss the importance of mitochondria function in health and disease and the evidence that mitochondrial dysfunction is involved in autism. Most importantly I will discuss the role of mitochondrial dysfunction in the development of autism particularly with respect to other underlying pathophysiological processes associated with autism such as inflammation and oxidative stress. trategies for diagnosing and treating mitochondrial dysfunction will be also be discussed.

Doreen Granpeeshed, PhD

Presentation Title: The CARD Treatment Model and CARD Curriculum.

Abstract: The Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) is a large-scale service delivery agency that provides treatment, training, and consultative services to hundreds of individuals with autism around the world. The purpose of this presentation is to highlight the CARD model of service delivery and the curriculum used. The curriculum is based on normal development with consideration of specific skills that only require step-by-step instruction for children with autism.

Presentation Title: Understanding and Treating Anxiety in Individuals with ASD.

Abstract: Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders often present with anxiety disorders that cause significant functional impairments. While Anxiety Disorders such as Generalized Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Phobias and other anxiety symptoms are common amongst individuals with ASD, the identification and treatment of these disorders are made more difficult by the presence of communication delays, behavior problems and the lack of standardized assessments for patients with ASD. This presentation reviews the literature on prevalence, features and assessment of anxiety in ASD individuals and offers guidelines for treatment through the use of cognitive behavioral protocols that have been found to be effective in this field.

Martha Herbert, MD, PhD

Presentation Title: KEYNOTE ADDRESS: Autism: A Whole-Body Disorder.

Abstract: The diagnostic entity “autism” is currently formally defined by a set of behavioural criteria determined by a committee of specialists and published in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) by the American Psychiatric Association. The behavioural definition of autism has been turned into a model of the biology of autism which presumes that there are alterations in brain modules that govern behavioural domains altered in autism, and that these alterations are caused by genes.
However, the phenomena and experiences of “autism” go far beyond what is included in the formal “autism” diagnostic criteria. Medically, these include a range of nervous system changes that go beyond the behavioural domains (such as sensory processing alterations, sleep disturbances, and seizures), symptoms in other organ systems (prominently gastrointestinal and immune systems), and systemic metabolic alterations (such as in mitochondria/energy metabolism and methylation pathways).

As scientific evidence and clinical experience accumulate, it is becoming apparent that autism is not simply a so-called “static encephalopathy” (i.e., fixed state of brain dysfunction) that results from permanent prenatal brain alterations, but an ongoing and active state of physiological altered regulation.

Reframing autism as a dynamic (not static) encephalopathy that is a consequence of a chronic active set of pathophysiological processes that begin prenatally or early in life is more consistent with emerging understanding. It also opens doors for treatment and for research strategies that will lead to optimized and innovative treatments more quickly.

Laurette Janak

Presentation Title: What parents need to know about themselves and their health.

Abstract: Parents can become so engaged in caring for their child with autism that their own health becomes neglected. In recent years, studies have emerged showing underlying biochemical differences in the parents of children with autism. This may predispose them to a variety of health complications including depression, fibromyalgia, cancer, cardiovascular disease and others. We will look at strategies for minimizing the risk of the consequences associated with these abnormalities. To be available for your child, you need to take care of yourself. This presentation is a step in learning how to do that.

Bonnie Kaplan, PhD

Presentation Title: Micronutrients versus Standard Medication Management in Autism.

Abstract: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is often accompanied by self-injurious behavior (SIB), aggression, and tantrums, symptoms that have reportedly improved with micronutrient treatment with vitamins and minerals (micronutrients). This lecture will report on a recent study that compared the outcomes of 44 people with ASD treated with micronutrients to 44 treated with conventional medications. Although both groups improved in many ways, micronutrient treatment was associated with some significant advantages: lower activity level, less social withdrawal, less anger, better spontaneity with the examiner, less irritability, lower intensity SIB, markedly fewer adverse events, and less weight gain. Advantages of medication management were insurance coverage, fewer pills, and less frequent dosing. The underlying mechanisms likely involved in micronutrient treatment will also be discussed.

Derrick MacFabe, MD

Presentation Title: Exploring Brain-Dietary-Gut Links to Autism- From Animal Models to Human Populations.

Abstract: Clinical observations suggest that gut and dietary factors transiently worsen, and in some cases appear to improve, behaviours in a subset of persons with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). However biochemical mechanisms on how these factors influence brain function and behaviour are poorly understood. Recent studies have found unique gut bacterial populations and metabolites in patients with ASDs. This lecture examines the possible role of infectious agents in the causes and symptoms of ASDs. It discusses the effects of a series of infective and dietary agents of increasing incidence that are capable of inducing brain changes and complex behaviours (i.e. aggression, biting, food craving, preservation, object fixation, social impairment, movement disorder, seizure) in humans and experimental animals. Dr. MacFabe presents his current research examining the ability of a panel of gut bacterial metabolic products (i.e. short chain fatty acids) associated with antibiotic and hospital acquired clostridial infections, to induce neurodevelopmental, electrographic, neuroinflammatory, metabolic, epigenetic and behavioural changes closely resembling those found in ASDs. It discusses the hypothesis that ASDs are produced by pre- or post-natal antibiotic resistant clostridial infections in sensitive subpopulations. These studies may offer novel approaches in the prevention, screening and treatment of ASDs.

Heather McCracken

Presentation Title: Fostering Peer Play and Friendships in Children on the Autism Spectrum.

Abstract: This presentation illustrates the Friend 2 Friend Autism Demystification and Integrated Play Groups™ models that work to enhance peer relations, social play and friendship between individuals on the autism spectrum and their peers. These complementary, research-based models focus on fostering inclusion with typical peers and siblings within natural social communities that are sensitive to each child’s unique profile of learning, development, social and cultural experience.

Lindsay Moir

Presentation Title: How to Successfully Interact with your School.

Abstract: This session will cover how the education system works, your rights, pertinent legislation, an overview of court and Human Rights cases.

Presentation Title: Advocacy Skills Training.

Abstract: This session will to teach advocacy skills and "Meeting Management" tips that parents can use to make school meetings more effective.