Dear Ms. Kropff,
Please accept our sincere thanks for bringing attention to the interesting topic of using essential oils to ease some of the symptoms of autism in your news piece. We are equally grateful to Yadira Calderon, the mother of Thomais, a child with autism, for sharing her story. It is good to know that Thomais is doing well. There are many behavioral problems associated with autism, which cause challenges for children with autism and their families. One of these is wakefulness at night, as was the case with Thomais. Anecdotal reports, such as yours, claim essential oils help with sleeplessness with children with ASD; however those reports have not been corroborated by science.
This lack of scientific support is one of the aspects of your news story which we find concerning. Although essential oils are used by many families as part of a regular health and well-being routine, the suggestion that there may be a simple/single solution that helps ease the signs and symptoms of autism is misleading. With the prevalence of autism at 1 in 68 children, as reported by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)—not 1 in 88—as you reported, it becomes increasingly important to find treatments which are known to be effective without being harmful.
You share the views of an “expert” (although her credentials are not specified), Hillary Miller, on the use of essential oils. She is quoted as saying, “They are used for everything from a stomach ache to autism” and “When you use it you’re not worried about a list that goes on for miles that it might cause problems and it’s a natural thing and our body can recognize it and use it the way it’s supposed to.” Yet you continue, “Essential oils are a highly volatile organic compound ….” We do appreciate that you point out that your “expert” does not claim essential oils to be a cure for autism, as well as making the point that the Food and Drug Administration does not regulate them. However, responsible journalism would encourage readers to exercise caution when exposed to stories/statements about autism treatment.
Clearly, using essential oils as a complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) requires further study. Treatments, which fall under the category of CAM, are by definition a group of diverse treatments. As such, there are varying levels of scientific evidence for their effectiveness and safety to users. We further suggest you visit the Association for Science in Autism Treatment website at https://asatonline.org/ to learn more about the scientific support behind various autism treatments well as the pitfalls of testimonials.
Speaking of essential oils, Yadira Calderon, the mother of the daughter with autism, points out “I cannot call it a remedy, because it’s not a remedy,” and we applaud her for that statement, but at the same time she says, “But it becomes a problem solver. And that’s a big relief as a parent to know there are those tools out there.“ Our concern is that accepting such tools without scientific support as to their safety as well as their efficacy may be detrimental to parents in several ways. It might create false hopes in parents, who expect their children to display improvements in behavior simply because another child is said to display such improvement.
There is a history of dozens of such treatments being adopted by professionals and by parents after being influenced by inaccurate reports in the media. Families sifting through countless reports of therapies that lack science-based evidence are not helped by such reports; they may cause families to delay or postpone interventions which have been shown to be effective. This delay may lead to a sad waste of both time and money that could be spent on interventions grounded in science. With such actions we do no favors for children with autism and their families. Children and families deserve better. Such news stories should be treated as anecdotal reports and should encourage further research and discussion.
Things are not likely to improve in terms of access to effective treatment for the autism community without more accurate representations of autism treatment in the media. We believe that the media plays an important and a critical role in increasing public awareness. To help families and other consumers make the best possible treatment choices for their children with autism and to support accuracy in the media, ASAT has developed resources for journalists which can be accessed on our Media Professionals page by visiting our website, https://asatonline.org/for-media-professionals/.
Thank you once again for choosing this topic, and for your interest in autism treatments. We at ASAT hope that your article will generate further scientific research to determine whether there may be a role for essential oils in the treatment of autism.
Sincerely,
Sunita Chhatwani MSc., MEd., and Peggy Halliday, M.Ed., BCBA
Association for Science in Autism Treatment
