Autism And Acid

[dip]

[loss of sanity in exchange for creativity]

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Great post.
	Interesting!

[grandbaby]

From http://www.scn.org/autistics/pharmaceuticals.html

LSD-25

Early studies, mostly 1960-1965 (when Sandoz discontinued distribution of LSD), investigated the use of LSD in an attempt to "cure" autism. This research has been severely criticized as abusive by autistics, in part because of consent issues. It should be noted that the nature of autism was less understood at that time. The "curative" approach to autism was also problematic. The politics of "cure" notwithstanding, there is an inherent problem with the early studies. LSD is the archetypical hallucinogenic drug. Unless one is going to maintain a lifelong LSD trip, it makes no sense as a curative treatment. The value of LSD would be in presenting a set of perceptions which may not otherwise be available to the patient. This was apparently never investigated during those early studies.
This early abuse resulted in a reluctance to experiment on the use of LSD in therapy. It is likely that LSD may be useful for therapy related to instruction, perspective or social conditioning.
It may be that a "non-curative" approach will be worth studying under professional guidelines.

The early research included studies by child psychiatrist Lauretta Bender (1897-1987). In most of her reports, she referred to "autistic schizophrenic children". At least one reference mentions that the children, "...became disturbed to the extent that they said we were experimenting on them." L. Bender, Children's Reactions to Psychotomimetic Drugs, Psychotomimetic Drugs, pp. 265-273; 1970.
Results of the Early LSD-25 Studies
The questionable approaches of these early studies notwithstanding, two items stand out:

1. The daily maintenance course of treatment (meaning daily dosages)

In addition to the "attempted cure" approach, this meant that the experiments did not test the possibility of using the perceptions or other results of the therapy as an education or therapeutic tool applicable to behaviour while not under the influence of LSD-25. Curiously, the concept of occasional use was addressed by other advocates of the drug at the time.

"... the dosage was gradually increased to twice or three times a week ... Finally, the drug was given daily and was continued for about 6 weeks. The physicians conclude from the experiment that:

* The children were generally happier; their mood was "high" in the hours following ingestion of the drug.

"
Bender L, Goldschmidt L, Siva DV: LSD-25 Helps Schizophrenic Children; Amer. Druggist, 146(13):33 (1962).

2. The "curative" approach to treatment.

Nevertheless, results of an "educational" or "therapeutic" nature were noted:

"... Nearly all of them were more alert, aware, and interested watching other persons. Some showed changes in facial expression in appropriate reactions to situations for the first time; many were able to understand and follow directions more readily. This increase in awareness was noted by all observers, including families, and was one of the most encouraging signs in these very withdrawn, regressed children. Personnel and parents were enthusiastic about the changes in the children, describing them as "more affectionate," "more aware," and interested in them or in siblings for the first time.
...
"Changes in speech and verbal communication in autistic children are always difficult to evaluate. We did observe, however, that the vocabularies of several of the children increased after LSD or UML; several seemed to be attempting to form words or watched adults carefully as they spoke; many seemed to comprehend speech for the first time or were able to communicate their needs. Many times, words or even sentences were used ... Very few of these changes in communication had been noted previously in such a large number of children, and at such a relatively rapid rate."
L. Bender, G. Faretra, L. Cobrinik: LSD and UML Treatment of Hospitalized Disturbed Children; Recent Advances in Biological Psychology, 5:84-92 (1963).

The above is not suggested as condoning the experimentation techniques and the value judgements implied by the researchers' analysis. It is merely presented to point out that clinically accepted documentary evidence exists to support properly constructed trials, with voluntary subjects. While early advocates did suggest an education therapy approach involving non-continuous treatment, there are no clinically accepted reports in this.
Non Maintenance LSD-25 Studies
Curiously, the proposals of Timothy Leary were directed to non-maintenance doses. His work gained some notority because of his self-medication and discussions of religious experiences. The following excerpt describes one experiments, in this case with psilocybin in a combined LSD-psilocybin study:

"... The sample included a woman who volunteered to take psilocybin at an average of two-week intervals during pregnancy ... [B]oth mother and child have showed no detrimental effects whatsoever. The mother reported that her own mental status and her reaction to the baby were much improved over those in four earlier pregnancies."
... during which she just drank a lot?
Leary T, Litwin GH, Metzner R.: Reactions to psilocybin administered in a supportive environment; J. Nerv. Ment. Disease, 137:561-573 (1963).

There are some more standard forms of research that were performed along the lines of perception training, although not focused on autism. Most notable was a study made in 1966 by Thomas M. Ling and John Buckman, in which six sessions of LSD are described, at apparently widely varying time intervals:

... A case of complete frigidity without other neurotic features is reported which has been fully relieved after six sessions of LSD. ... Her husband reports that the patient is much happier ... and that their sexual life has been revolutionized..."
Thomas M. Ling and John Buckman: The Treatment of Frigidity with LSD and Ritalin; Psychedelic Rev. 1: 450-458 (1966).

The later article is noteworthy as an example of the use of LSD to provide perspective to the patient. These were specifically not maintenance dosages, but instead a course of 6 sessions. I personally think he could have left the Ritalin out of these trials.

***

There is a very good article comparing psychedelic treatments of autism at http://www.druglibrary.org/SCHAFFER/lsd/autism.htm , the first introductory paragraphs of which are pasted below (the whole article is too long to cut and paste). Happy reading!

The Use of Psychedelic Agents
with Autistic Schizophrenic Children

Robert E. Mogar & Robert W. Aldrich

from Psychedelic Review Number 10, 1969


Evidence from seven independent studies indicates LSD
may help free the most severely imprisoned minds. In recent years, a number of exploratory investigations have been reported involving the administration of psychedelic agents to young children suffering from severe forms of psychological disturbance (Abramson, 1960; Bender, et al., 1962; Bender, et al., 1963; Fisher & Castile, 1963; Freedman, et al., 1962; Rolo, et al., 1965; Simmons, et al., 1966). As either therapeutic or experimental undertakings, these studies are extremely fragmentary and suffer gross shortcomings. As a case in point, wide diversity along major dimensions known to influence drug response and treatment effectiveness characterize this work. These include the agent employed, dosage level, number and frequency of administrations, therapist expectations and previous experience with psychedelic drugs, and finally the setting and circumstances surrounding the drug-induced state. With regard to patient characteristics, the children treated were demographically varied and covered a broad age range. More importantly, the samples were markedly heterogeneous with respect to the nature, severity, and duration of modal symptoms. The major experimental shortcomings included small samples, subjective and vague criteria of drug effects and improvement, and grossly inadequate follow-up.
Despite their diversity and severe limitations, these seminal explorations in an extremely complex area of research seem worthy of wider reportage and more serious attention than they have hitherto received. Almost without exception, these reports have appeared in obscure publications or remain unpublished. A more significant reason for their relative neglect has been the polarized controversy surrounding psychedelic agents which has all but completely curtailed publicly-sanctioned research.

[dip]

[ergotism]