Defeating Autism

Michael Fitzpatrick has worked as a general practitioner in East London for 25 years. He writes on health matters for a range of medical and mainstream publications, including two previous books for Routledge: The Tyranny of Health and MMR and Autism.

'Medicine has limits. Despite tremendous technological advances several diseases remain without a clear cause or cure, autism among them. Unfortunately, where medicine fails, charlatanism and quackery abounds, often with damaging results. In his book, Defeating Autism, Michael Fitzpatrick, a physician and himself the father of an autistic son, explores the therapies that have been proffered for autistic children with clarity and compassion. This is a must read for any parent trying to wade through the Arabian bazaar of autism therapies.'Paul A. Offit, M.D., Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, USA'With eloquent and persuasive writing, Fitzpatrick uncovers the political agendas that lie behind current fears of an autism crisis, and challenges the epidemic of unproven and expensive treatments. He shows us that our children are indeed being helped tremendously, not by unscientific autism treatments that falsely promise cure or recovery, but by educators, scientists, evidence-based therapies, and new understandings of what it means to be human, and different, in the twenty first century. If my child were diagnosed with autism today, I would turn to Dr Michael Fitzpatrick for guidance.'Roy Richard Grinker, Professor of Anthropology at George Washington University, USA and author of Unstrange Minds

• Introduction 1. Introduction: when quackery kills 2. Toxic childhood 3. Age of autism 4. Angry parents 5. Unorthodox biomedics 6. Genes or toxins 7. MMR ten years on 8. Mercury and beyond 9. From diet to detox 10. Treatment issues 11. Conclusion: Being appropriately critical