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Autism and related disorders are more common than ever before. Ten years ago, one in every 1,000 births was affected. Now it's one out of 150. Sufferers have tremendous difficulty communicating with or connecting to others, and treatment involves years of intense therapy, but one new magic bullet procedure is gaining momentum.
At facilities like Birmingham Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy, proven technology is being put to a novel use. They offer new hope to parents of children with developmental disabilities such as autism. A hyperbaric chamber delivers a concentrated dose of oxygen under pressure. It can speed up the healing process for all kinds of medical problems.
Dr. Michael Martin with Birmingham HBOT said, “They've used it throughout the years for tracking decompression sickness in divers, for altitude sickness in climbers. We've also used it for treating wound problems folks that have difficult wounds to heal."
But now it’s being used to treat autism.
“We've seen some tremendous results from kids who were non verbal no interactions with other folks to normal verbalization, starting to talk," said Martin.
Most insurance companies will not cover it because demand for the treatment has outpaced the research needed to back it up. That's why Martin and his wife, Tracy, opened a hyperbaric facility in Hoover to offer the service at an affordable rate.
Inside the tanks they experience 1.5 atmospheres or about 150% of the air pressure we're normally accustomed to.
"A total treatment lasts about and hour and 20 minutes with one hour at pressure," said Martin.
The Martins are convinced that it is effective. When Tracy had quadruplets five years ago, two of the four children had autism. After dozens of hyperbaric sessions, they say Sam and Gabriel have both shown improvement.
"In our children specifically we took a child that was saying very few words to five or six word sentences. Much better vocabulary, personality better, much better reactions, he's mainstreaming into school," said Martin.
But don't take their word for it, the results speak for themselves.
"Well, that's the news. Goodbye and thanks for watching," said Sam Martin.
One session costs around $90 and the risks involved are minimal.
