If biomedical treatments are to be successful, you must take some time to figure out (a) which ones might be best suited for your child, and (b) how you will decide which treatments are working. Choosing a medical practitioner, starting a biomedical diary, and using an assessment tool such as the ATEC can all help.

Find a Practitioner

We recommend parents find a knowledgeable and sympathetic medical practitioner, with experience in treating the health problems of children on the autistic spectrum. Such practitioners will assess your child's presenting symptoms and help investigate underlying causes with a range of testing options. They give guidance and impart knowledge based on clinical experience, and generally help parents to treat their children safely and with greater efficacy. Many parents treating their children biomedically work with one or sometimes even more practitioners. Please see our section on practitioners for more information.

Keep a Diary

Other than enlisting medical help, the single most important method of selecting treatments and assessing their efficacy is to keep a log or diary. It is best to start this diary before you begin treatments, although it is never too late to begin this highly useful habit. Whenever you start your diary, choose topics and a format that will suit your child and your personal time constraints and preferences. Below are some ideas that may help: • You may prefer to keep a diary on-line, in the form of a blog that is not viewed by any others. On MSN they are called "spaces"; on AOL they are called "journals." • You may prefer a handwritten notebook. Some people have found that using different coloured ink can be of help. For example, write negative things in red, positive in blue. That way, a quick glance back can tell you what kind of day it was overall. • Some people prefer photocopied templates, with different sections: communication, behaviour, food, bowel habit, supplements taken, sleep, or whatever applies to your child. You may employ a rating system for appropriate sections such as energy levels and stimming, etc., perhaps rating behaviour on a scale of 1 to 5. The number 1 would indicate very problematic (for example, very lethargic or very stimmy) and 5 would indicate excellent day (full of energy or virtually no stimming all day). Other parents use codes to simplify the process. For example, when referring to daily bowel habit/movements, P=pale, B=brown, D=diarrhoea, S=soft, F=formed. So, a single diary entry might be PD X 3, PS X 1. • Ask yourself about the issues that appear most significant for your child. Does your child crave/exclude certain foods? Engage in certain unusual behaviours (chewing shirts or licking non-food items, for example). Have noticeable physical symptoms like red ears, rashes, eczema, pushing on the gut, very dry hair, excessive ear wax, white tongue, spinning, unexplained laughing, irregular bowel movements, etc? Have erratic or abnormal sleep patterns? Have sensory issues (covering ears for example)? Oftentimes, speaking with other adults who are involved in your child's life will help you to remember or notice things that might otherwise be overlooked. By documenting as much about your child as possible, you will eventually find patterns that will help you make sound decisions about treatment. This information will also help any practitioner you choose to work with.

Use the ATEC

The ATEC is a common method used to keep track of improvements over long periods of time. ATEC stands for Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist and was developed by the Autism Research Institute. It is a bit of a blunt instrument, but often parents find it helpful to complete the ATEC prior to beginning a major treatment. Other parents use it more as a way of periodically evaluating overall progress. It is free and easy to use. You can complete the ATEC and submit it for scoring here: http://www.autism.com/ari/atec/index.htm. It is helpful to make a few notes for yourself on the first ATEC so that you answer questions consistently each time you complete the form. For example, if your child is very young you may not consider the lack of toilet training to be a real issue. It can also be helpful to have someone else, like a teacher or family friend, complete a series of ATECs over time, to see how they perceive the changes in your child. Remember that with the ATEC, the lower the score, the better. Be sure to keep your scored ATEC sheets.