Each Day I Like It Better: Autism, ECT, and the Treatment of Our Most Impaired Children

216 Pages·2014·1.238 MB·English

by  Amy S F Lutz

Amy S. F. Lutz
each day i like it better
autisM, ect , and the treatMent oF
our Most iMpaired children
Foreword by dirk dhossche, Md ,
and charles kellner, Md

Each Day I Like It Better
autism, ect, and the
treatment of our most
impaired children
amy s. f. lutz
Vanderbilt UniVersity Press
Nashville
© 2014 by Amy S. F. Lutz
All rights reserved
Published 2014 by Vanderbilt University Press
Nashville, Tennessee 37235
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
Manufactured in the United States of America
Frontispiece photograph by Amy Lutz
Text design by Rich Hendel
Composition by Vanderbilt University Press
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data on file
lC control number 2013034804
lC classification number rJ506.a9l88 2013
Dewey class number 618.92’85882—dc23
isbn 978-0-8265-1975-7 (hardcover)
isbn 978-0-8265-1976-4 (paperback)
isbn 978-0-8265-1977-1 (ebook)
For Jonah,
Matthew, Paul,
Gary, David, Sam,
John, and Alex

Contents

Foreword xi
by Charles Kellner, MD, and Dirk Dhossche, MD
1 Jonah, 2009
The Debate on Cognitive Side Effects 1
2 Matthew 22
3 Jonah, January–March 2010
The Efficacy Studies 31
4 Paul 44
5 Jonah, March 2010
ECT Begins 52
6 Gary and David 67
7 Jonah, March–April 2010
One Step Forward, Two Steps Back 76
8 Sam 99
9 Jonah, April 2010
Maintenance Begins 106
10 Alex 120
11 Jonah, August–September 2010
How Does ECT Work? 139
12 John 150
13 The ECT Controversy 160
Epilogue, January 26, 2011: The FDA Hearing 175
Afterword, May 16, 2013 185
Acknowledgments 189
Notes 191
Index 197

If love were the cure,
I would have been healed
a long time ago.
— Martha Manning,
Undercurrents: A Life
Beneath the Surface