Episode 21 - The Truth About ECT in Autism, Part 1

The Truth About ECT in Autism

Episodes 21 and 22 feature three esteemed guests talking in detail about ECT, or electroconvulsive therapy, for autism and other disorders. Though controversial, ECT can be remarkably effective in many cases for alleviating distressing symptoms that are unresponsive to medication. Our guests are:

Dr Lee Elizabeth Wachtel, clinical director of rhe Neurobehavioral Unit at Kennedy Krieger Institute

Dr Amy Lutz, VP of NCSA, author, and professor at University of Pennsylvania, and mother of a young man with autism

Dr Jennie Goldstein, a child psychiatrist in Israel, who is the mother of a young man with autism

We discuss: What is ECT? How does it work in the clinic? How has it helped Amy and Jennie's sons? What does the research say about risks and benefits?What are the policy issues and obstacles?

Links:

• Amy's book: Each Day I Like It Better: Autism, ECT, and the Treatment of Our Most Impaired Children, by Amy Lutz https://www.amazon.com/Each-Day-Like-Better-Treatment/dp/0826519768

• Article in the Atlantic, How Shock Therapy Is Saving Some Children with Autism https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/10/how-shock-therapy-is-saving-some-children-with-autism/505448/

• The 24-min BBC documentary, on YouTube, which features Jonah and an autistic young woman, and in which you can see what an actual treatment looks like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x_FR3IX_uY

• Blogpost on NCSA: Stopping Aggression and Self-Injury After All Else Failed
https://www.ncsautism.org/blog//stoppingaggression