For the First Time, Researchers Propose a Universal Theory of Autism; May Eventually Lead to Cure
NEW YORK, Oct. 7 /PRNewswire/ — Earlier today, promising new research findings that may help scientists and doctors better understand and treat Autism Spectrum Disorders, were released from a new study by Dr. Robert Melillo, a world-renowned neurologist, professor and author (Disconnected Kids, Penguin Books).
This possible medical breakthrough, follows on the heels of Monday’s harrowing announcement that two new government studies, including one by the Centers for Disease Control, estimate that 1 in every 100 American children has an autism based disorder. The new estimate would mean that about 673,000 American children have autism.
In the recently published study, Autistic Spectrum Disorders as Functional Disconnection Syndrome [Reviews in the Neurosciences, 2009, Freund Publishing], Dr. Robert Melillo and Dr. Gerry Leisman, offer, for the first time ever, a universal theory for understanding and treating Autism Spectrum Disorders, ADHD and Dyslexia. In the study, Dr. Melillo asserts that a disconnection between the left and right sides of the developing brain may lead to these kinds of neurological disorders.
“The problem known as a functional disconnection is a communication breakdown between large cortical networks in the developing brain. This leads to fewer connections between areas of the brain especially the two hemispheres. This imbalance explains the unevenness of skills and all of the other combination of symptoms we see in autism,” said Dr. Melillo.
Key study findings include:
- A possible treatment solution exists that has the potential of correcting Autism, ADHD and Dyslexia permanently.
- How Functional Disconnection with reduced activity and coherence in the right hemisphere would explain all of the symptoms of autistic spectrum disorder as well as the observed increases in sympathetic activation.
- Best way to address the symptoms of these disorders: improving brain coordination through increasing right hemisphere activity to the level that it becomes temporally coherent with the left hemisphere.
- The physical, immune, digestive, and biochemical issues, or the sensory and motor issues, that previous papers do not address.
- An explanation of the neurological, cognitive, psychological, as well as both the sensory and motor issues.
Hope abounds throughout the scientific community that this new theory might prove to be a significant breakthrough in understanding and treating one of the biggest social and medical issues of our time. President Barack Obama has identified autism as a national health priority and has earmarked Federal stimulus money for autism research, screening and treatment.
“For years, researchers have recognized that autism is a multimodal problem that affects multiple areas of the brain and multiple systems in the body. Although autistic children can vary in their combination of symptoms, there has also been the recognition that there seems to be a single unifying problem that may relate to other disorders like ADHD and Dyslexia,” said Dr. Melillo.
For the past 4 years Dr. Robert Melillo has served as an adjunct professor of functional neuroanatomy in a graduate doctoral program in neuropsychology at Touro College and Leeds Metropolitan University. He is also an associate professor of clinical neurology and childhood behavioral disorders with The Carrick Institute. Dr. Melillo is the executive director of the FR Carrick Research Institute, a University based research lab that focuses on translational research and development in the areas of neuroscience, brain development, ergonomics and rehabilitation. He is also the president of the Foundation for Cognitive Neuroscience.
Contact: Jasmin Aydagul, 516-351-2370, jasmin@adamklugerpr.com www.adamklugerpr.com
Dr. Robert Melillo available for interviews
SOURCE Reviews in the Neurosciences / Freund Publishing
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Please relay any information you have on this. Thank you sooooo much for your continued effort on behalf of the children.
I beleive it is 1 in 110 children will be effected…hmmm
My boys have been diagnosed with ADD, ADHD, and visual impairment reading disorder. As an adult, I was diagnosed last year with AS. Another relative has autism.
As a parent, researcher, and special educator, I have been saying for years that there is a connection between these disorders. They are not singular one-point disorders. They are more than broad spectrum disorders. They are even more that a class of disorders. They are labels that we attach to a much wider variety of individualized conditions based on genetic switching. The code that defines these conditions is very individualized.
Thus, ADHD, autism and reading disorders (like dyslexia) should be considered as manifestations of such genetic switching and listed together as Dr. Melillo did in the quote contained in this article.