Effectiveness of nutritional supplements for reducing symptoms in autism-spectrum disorder: a case report

This report presents a case of a 9-year-old boy with autism that responded positively to nutritional supplements.

The supplements were dimethylglycine and a combination of a large dose of vitamin B6 (pyridoxal HCl) and magnesium. The Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) was used for outcome assessment and administered by 2 of his family members both before the nutritional supplements and 5 months into the supplements, thereby referred to as pretest and post-test, respectively. Two (2) assessors independently performed evaluations. The ATEC evaluates four areas: communication, sociability, sensory/cognitive awareness, and behavior. The lower the scores are, the less severe the symptoms are.

The ATEC evaluations by 2 independent assessors showed that the changes in total ATEC were from 63 at pretest to 33 at post-test, and from 64 at pretest to 30 at post-test, respectively. These changes represented reductions of 47.6% and 53.1%. A strong inter-rater reliability was demonstrated, with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.988. The school teachers also noticed improvements in various areas consistent with the ATEC evaluations.

Although the reported findings cannot be generalized, this case report provides useful preliminary evidence to an accumulating body of literature supporting the theory and efficacies of nutritional supplements in autism-spectrum disorders.