Welcome to Team Captain Meeting!

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• Welcome to Team Captain Meeting!
• James B. Adams Gina Vokoun

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Agenda

• Welcome
• Introductions
• Autism Research Institute
• ASU Autism/Aspergers Research Program
• Zoowalk Logistics
• Zoowalk T-Shirt and Prizes
• Zoowalk Fundraising
• Discussion/Questions

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Welcome!

• Zoowalk for Autism fundraiser supports research
  locally at ASU and nationally via the Autism
  Research Institute.
• Team Captains play a vital role in advertising
  the walk, inviting people to join, and inviting
  people to donate.
• Thank you for coming and for your support!

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The Autism Research Instituteand itsDefeat
Autism Now! Program

• Founded by Bernard Rimland, Ph.D.

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Bernard and Mark Rimland
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Infantile Autism The Syndrome and Its
Implications for a Neural Theory of Behavior
(1964)
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Autism Research Institute

• Conducts and sponsors practical research on
  causes of autism and how to treat it
• Networks scientists and physicians in annual
  Think Tank on latest treatments
• Largest provider of autism seminars to physicians
  over 800 physicians attended ARI trainings last
  year
• Provides parents with relevant science-based
  information to help understand and treat their
  children.
• Defeat Autism Now! Conference reaches 1000
  families live, and 20,000 watch for free
• www.autism.com

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• James B. Adams, Ph.D.
• Director, ASU Autism/Aspergers Research Program
• President, Autism Society of Greater Phoenix
• Co-Leader, Autism Research Institute Think Tank
• Father of an 18-year-old girl with autism

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Autism Research

• Our research group is dedicated to finding the
  causes of autism, how to prevent autism, and how
  to best help people with autism.
• Nutrition vitamins, minerals, fatty acids,
  amino acids
• Toxic Metals and Chelation
• Gastrointestinal Problems
• Sleep
• Inflammation
• Mitochondrial Disorders
• Seizures

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Nutrition Research

• 2004 pilot study vitamin/mineral supplement
  improves sleep and gastrointestinal problems
• 2006 Low lithium in children with autism and
  their mothers
• 2007 Essential Fatty acids help reduce autistic
  symptoms in children and adults with low fish
  consumption
• 2008/2010 study
• 1) Many abnormalities in nutritional and
  metabolic status, including low glutathione,
  increased toxic metals, low ATP, abnormal
  neurotransmitters, and more
• 2) Vitamin mineral supplement greatly improves
  most nutritional and metabolic abnormalities,
  including glutathione, ATP, neurotransmitters,
  and more

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Toxic Metals published studies

• 2003 children with autism excreted 3-6x more
  mercury than typical children after chelation
• 2007 2-3x higher mercury in baby teeth
• 2007 higher amounts of toxics in childrens
  hair
• 2008 abnormal mercury in baby hair
• 2009 amount of toxic metals strongly correlates
  with severity of autism
• 2009 chelation with DMSA safely removes toxic
  metals, improves glutathione, reduces
  inflammation, and improves symptoms

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Gastrointestinal Problems

• 2008/2010 study found severity of
  gastrointestinal problems strongly correlated
  with severity of autism also, much lower
  short-chain fatty acids, indicating abnormal gut
  bacteria
• New 2010 study will use novel DNA-based methods
  to identify and quantify roughly 400-600
  different gut bacteria in children with autism
  vs. typical children

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Treating Inflammation

• 2007 study found that ACTOS, an FDA-approved
  anti-inflammatory medication, was able to reduce
  autistic symptoms
• 2009 study found increased platelets, a general
  marker of inflammation, and found that chelation
  therapy resulted in 50 improvement

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Seizures

• National survey with Dr. Richard Frye
  (neurologist at Un. Texas) on treatments for
  seizures over 1000 respondents clearly
  identifies most effective medications/treatments
  with least side-effects
• Will be presented at fall conference, and paper
  almost ready for submission

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Mitochondrial Disorders

• Mitochondria are the factories in every cell
  that make ATP, the primary fuel for body and the
  brain
• Many studies now show that children with autism
  often have mitochondrial problem
• We conducted the first double-blind,
  placebo-controlled study of Carnitine, an
  FDA-approved medication/nutritional supplement,
  and found that it was beneficial
• Results will be presented at fall conference

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New 2010 study being planned

• 1-year, multi-treatment study combining special
  diets, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids,
  amino acids, digestive enzymes, probiotics, and
  more - for 100 children and adults with autism.
• Goal use a broad array of treatments to try to
  correct many problems in autism, to maximize
  improvement

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Bringing Research to Families

• Summary of Biomedical Treatments
• 28-page summary of 14 major treatments, including
  a summary of the research for each treatment and
  how to implement it
• Free copy sent to over 2000 families in Arizona
  most widely-requested publication from ARI

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Supplementation Our Recovery Story

• Development slowed by 1 year, then began
  regressing
• Autism diagnosis at 26 months
• Immediately began GFCF low-allergenic diet
• Habilitation, therapies, and preschool

Ricky at 16 months
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Supplement Study Results Age 4 ½

• Day 11 Increased energy level, more echolalia
• Day 18 First formed stool, willing to eat a
  greater variety of foods
• Day 25 Initiating social interaction, more
  expressive language
• Day 32 Asking questions
• Day 40 Uncomfortable in wet diaper
• Day 54 Speaking in complete sentences,
  spontaneously engaging in interactive and
  imaginative play
• Day 68 Spontaneously learning new words,
  initiating conversations, 100 dry all day,
  playing with toys, willing to shift attention
  from TV/video games to family members
• Day 76 100 dry day and night, bowels solid and
  fully formed, great appetite and energy level,
  has conversations with stuffed animals, prefers
  interaction with real people to TV video games,
  used I when answering a question, fine motor
  improvement

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Supplementation Our Recovery Story
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Why I support the ZoowalkWhen my son was first
diagnosed, the Autism Research Institute was
invaluable in providing my family with the hope
that he would someday have a typical life.  At
the first Zoowalk, I was honored to actually meet
and thank Dr. Rimland for giving me my son back.
 Over the past years, the expertise and
encouragement from both ARI and Jim Adams with
the ASU Autism/Asperger's Research Program have
helped my son improve to the point that he has
lost his diagnosis and enjoys the typical life of
a fourth grade boy.- happy mother

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Why I support the Zoowalk

• Autism Research Institute (ARI) and ASU
  Autism/Asperger's Research Program have given my
  boys the lift up I never thought they'd get. 
  Being a part of ASU's Vitamin/Mineral Study
  taught me the importance of vitamins and minerals
  our kids are deficient in.  With the
  vitamins/minerals, I saw major improvement in
  speech, cognitive ability and behaviors. I'm
  extremely grateful for ARI and Jim Adams and all
  their great work to treat our children with
  autism spectrum disorders. Gina Vokoun

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Why I support the Zoowalk

• Our son Alexander greatly benefited from the
  DMSA study.  Not only did we learn that he had an
  excessive amount of lead in his body but after
  only one round of DMSA he seemed more focused and
  his speech improved."  mother

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Research Summary

• ARI and ASU are committed to finding the cause of
  autism, and how to help children and adults with
  autism.
• The focus is on practical research that will make
  a difference in the lives of children and adults.

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Zoowalk Logistics

• Very similar plan to last year.
• Large teams may still request early tshirt
  delivery.
• New walk from parking lot to zoo, through desert
  landscape same distance, much more scenic
• One change is that, at registration, teams will
  pick up tshirts and tickets for prizes prizes
  will be redeemed at end of walk for special
  artwork made by adults on the spectrum.

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Zoowalk Prizes

• All Zoowalk prizes are made by adults with
  autism/aspergers, as part of a special program
  by SEEDs which teaches them how to make art
  projects for sale, and teaches them valuable
  vocational skills.
• Each 200 raised results in 1 ticket. Prizes
  available ranging from 1-8 tickets. People will
  be able to select their individual prize.

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Fundraising Ideas

• Email, email, email to groups of friends, and
  to individuals
• Hand out brochures to family, friends,
  co-workers, therapists
• Hold a zoowalk lunch or dinner party
• Your ideas?
• Every dollar raised helps support important
  research at ASU and ARI

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Thank you!

• Many thanks for being a zoowalk team captain and
  supporting autism research!
• Together we are making a difference to children
  and adults with autism!