Last week when my Dad was here he told me that my Uncle and Aunt were thinking about buying a hyperbaric chamber for my cousin Conner. Apparently there has been a lot of research on these chambers with their benefits and treatments for individuals with autism. Even though Conner has cerebral palsy and severe brain damage and not autism, I guess the pressure from hyperbaric chambers would still help him. I had never heard of using hyperbaric chambers being used for the treatment of autism and disabilities before, so I found a couple videos and articles. I found that there are a lot of hyperbaric therapy centers across the United States. There is also a lot of controversy between where the little amount of scientific proof gives enough evidence that they work. Here is one cite for a treatment center in California. On ABC news health website, I found an article titled, “Hyperbaric Autism Treatment Show Possible Promise” . Hyperbaric therapy is a procedure that has little scientific evidence backing it up for a treatment of autism but there are new studies that are ready to prove it has a valid treatment with replicated findings.
Here is one more article
And a pretty neat video. You should definitely watch it!!
I think that having more research and studies with hyperbaric chambers will be very important for the future of therapy and treatments. Even though there is not a lot of scientific proof that these hyperbaric chambers work, the parents are seeing changes in their children. I do not think that they are not just a waste of time and money. If children with autism are showing even just the smallest amount of progress from these chambers, I think that researchers are on the right track. And if my family ends up getting one for my cousin, I will let you know what happens.
My questions for yall (you all) are if you have ever heard anything about these hyperbaric chambers? And what do you think about them? Do you think it will become the “new thing” for therapy? Do you think these chambers with further research will be able to benefit all children with disabilities? And have you heard of any other new technologies being used for treatments or therapy?
I think this was a very interesting post. I have never heard of using hyperbaric chambers treating anything other than burn victims. It was fascinating to see the results some children are having. i think that if they are proven effective then everyone should go for it but I think a whole lot more research needs to be done before people start spending their money on this treatment. It is nice to see that parents are seeing a difference but I would wait a few years before saying my child is cured. I have learned in my communication disorders class that the child may be cured of one aspect but the same disability can resurface in a different form. I do think they will become the "new thing" for therapy at least for a while because so many parents are raving about it that a ton of people will try it out. I have never heard of any other technologies being used apart from food therapy and the regular in school therapies so this class has really taught me a lot about alternative treatments.
ReplyDeleteBefore this post I had never heard of Hyperbaric chambers. I believe that the reasoning behind why they work could be valid. People in general function better when they have increased amounts of oxygen flowing through their body. Why would children with autism be any different? I also believe that with the treatment not being harmful at all there is no reason why it should not be researched and developed further. I do however believe that much more research and testing is needed before hyperbaric treatment is recommended by doctors for any or all children with autism or cerebral palsy. For those with the financial ability, I say go for it! The more people who are willing and able to give this treatment a try, the more results the rest of us will have to look at and assess. The technology of these later days astounds me, and I think it is absolutely wonderful. If this treatment proves to be scientifically increasing functionality of children with autism perhaps it will even become insurable, which would be even better!
ReplyDeleteBefore reading these articles I had never heard anything about hyperbaric chambers. I thought that is was so interesting that kids with Autism would stay still in there for so long without getting worked up at all. I know that increased oxygen flow in the body is very beneficial but I wonder how it directly affects their abilities to function in various ways. I think that hyperbaric chambers will most likely become very popular because parents of children with Autism want their children to improve and succeed and will try almost anything to get there. Even with further research I do not see how these chambers will directly benefit all types of disabilities. The increased oxygen may have some slight benefits but I don’t see it becoming popular with all disabilities. The other “technologies” that I have heard of being used for therapy are robots, animals, food, and music but nothing like the hyperbaric chambers.
ReplyDeleteLike those above I had never heard of hyperbaric chambers before I read this post and article. I'm glad we have these posts so that we can learn from other members in the class. It's interesting to know that this chamber has been used to calm those with autism. I do think that hyperbaric chambers are a good idea and should be further researched, however I don't see them going very far. They can be used to calm and relax, but I don't know if they'll be able to be used for the progression of a child with autism. It'll be a tool used by those families who are able to afford them. As far as other disabilities go, I think that providing an increased amount of oxygen could potentially help in the same way as it has for individuals with autism. It will calm and relax for the time being, but won't have any long term progressive effects. The other technologies I have heard of had pretty much all come from this class.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of hyperbaric chambers before, but after reading the articles they sound great! It is interesting that they are usually used for burn victims and somehow someone decided to use them for children with autism. I agree with Liz that it must have something to do with the amount of oxygen that the people intake. I liked in one of the articles what a doctor said, that because there are so many causes for autism, there will be many treatments that will work, and I think that it's a case by case thing. It's great that this is working for some people, but I definitely think a lot more research should be done to see why it works and if it can help more people. I think it could also be a great springboard for more research on oxygen and it's effects on disabilities. I'm sure this will become more popular, and eventually it may fade out like fads do, but hopefully with research they can find out if it truly does help people with autism as it is a disability that is becoming more prevelant as more people are becoming aware of it.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of anything like this or any other new technologies similar to it. I find it very intriguing and hope that they continue to do more research in this area. I do not believe that it is a technology that will be able to help every child with autism as every person is different and what they need to help them will be different. I do hope that with more research we can find a solution for all children with autism. What I also find interesting is how calm this therapy makes children with autism, from the article and video it just seems that they really enjoy the time they spend in the chamber. I definitely think that this chamber will become the "new" thing that parents try to help their children, I just hope it is affordable. Awesome article, thanks Talera!!!
ReplyDeleteI really don't have much knowledge or experience with any type of therapy for those with disabilities. This therapy was very interesting, but I was taught in the CPSE 403 class, or intro to Special Education, not to trust anything that had not yet been proven. The teacher told us that there are tons of therapies out there and all of them say that they will work for your child with a disability. Sometimes this may be true, but probably, the majority of the times, it is not. This therapy, however, intrigued me. There seemed to be many success stories that came from it. I would feel more comfortable to use it after more research and investigation had been performed first. It's hard to say whether this might become the new thing on the market, or become a major breakthrough. For some, that may be the case, but from what I have learned, each case of someone with a disability is different from the next. As Dr. Z always tells us, we just try until we're dry.
ReplyDeleteSo before I read up on Hyperbaric Chambers, I wasn't a fan of the idea of enclosing kids in a "chamber" of any sort. I guess the word chamber is what turned me away, because it didn't seem ethical to me. However, after watching the video and reading the articles, I was pleasantly surprised by the results of those families who invested in this type of therapy. The increased brain activity generated improvement in the child's speech and interactions with those around him. This is great progress for children with Autism. His parents are the ones who can see the most progress, and seeing their reaction to the results made me think that the chamber was well worth it. I do think that it is going to take some time before it can become valid to doctors and physicians, however, I think because of the positive results, and the fact that it hasn't done harm to any children, I think that it should continue to be used.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of these hyperbaric chambers but it sounds very interesting. I am all for the advancement of helping people with disabilities in any way. Any kind of research with the intent of helping others I think is a good thing. So, I am all for the continuation of the research that is being done even if there has not been a lot of reported success yet. I think that it is up in the air at this point whether or not it will become the next new thing. it will depend on further research on the topic on if it works or not. But from reading the articles and watching the video it seems like some progress is being made so I think that continuation of research is a must. I think research on anything that can potentially help us without harming anyone during research is a good thing. I am all for it.
ReplyDeleteI have never heard of them. If there is only a little progress than I do not think that they will become "all the rage". It is true that even a little bit of progress is important, but it seems that the expense of these chambers out weighs the benefits, especially since there is no scientific proof. Until further research and proof that it helps is provided, I think that the money is better spent in other ways to help children with autism. I still think that they should continue their research, if in the future they make a big break through that will help with autism, then it will be great.
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of using hyperbaric chambers until reading this. I don't seem them becoming a super popular technique but I am intrigued by the idea. Cost would be a clear constraint, and so they would probably only be available to the most wealthy families. I think that a lot of further research needs to be done, and doctors approval needs to be attained, but the video and article make it very apparent that it has been working! While it initially put me off considering it is called a "chamber" I feel like this could be a very useful tool in the future and should continue being studied.
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