**Author details**

a comprehensive RCT been done testing the efficacy of music therapy in ASD patients

This group of therapies may include the use of carnitine, ocytocin, vitamin C, tetrahydrobiop‐ terin, adrenergic alfa-2 agonists, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, immune-modulatory treatment, and anti-inflammatory treatment (Rossignol 2009). Caution is needed with the hyperbaric oxygen therapy because of the potential adverse effects, such as barotrauma, reversible

Several of the proposed CAM for ASD had no proved efficacy to date, for example: use of carnosine, multi-vitamin and mineral complexes, piracetam, omega-3 fatty acids, selective diets, vitamin B6, magnesium, chelation, cyproheptadine, glutamate antagonists, acupunc‐ ture, auditory integration training, massage, neuro-feedback, and others (Rossignol, 2009).

The following clinical recommendations can be done as a result of more than twenty years of personal clinical practice in Child Neurology dealing with ASD children, among other neuropediatric situations. For instance, our Child Neurology Unit (http://www.ufrgs.br/

From the clinical point of view, it is important to remember the ongoing changes in DSM criteria for ASD diagnosis. To date, we still deal with five different diagnosis of autism, according with DSM-IV criteria. Even after modifications due the new DSM-V classification, ASD children will remain as a heterogeneous group, making difficult the exact clinical

It is important to remember that ASD diagnosis can be catastrophic to parents. As a result, an incorrect diagnosis would be even worse. That is the reason to be careful in terms of making

After finishing a list of the prominent symptoms, the next step is to decide if they are intense enough to deserve treatment, which is not easy. Some symptoms seem to be more unpleasant to parents than the ASD child. At this point, there is no guideline to follow, and the previous

Usually the non-medical treatment is started earlier than the use of medications. It is important to remember the relevance of evidence-based CAM, since there are a great number of proposed

In general, medications are used in addition to non-medical treatments. The best medica‐ tion approach would be monotherapy, but it is not always possible in the real clinical

ASD diagnosis as well as to make a double check if diagnosis is really correct.

neuropediatria) usually makes more than 16,000 neuropediatric evaluations per year.

myopia, oxygen toxicity, and seizures (Weinssman & Bridgemohan, 2012).

(Geretsegger et al., 2012).

*5.2.2. CAM with little evidence*

*5.2.3. CAM with no proved efficacy to date*

648 Recent Advances in Autism Spectrum Disorders - Volume I

**6. Clinical recommendations in ASD**

clinical experience is extremely helpful.

non-medical treatments.

diagnosis.

Rudimar Riesgo1,2, Carmem Gottfried1,3 and Michele Becker1,2

1 Translational Research Group in Autism, (UFRGS) Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

2 Child Neurology Unit, HCPA (Clinical Hospital of Porto Alegre), UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil

3 Neuroglial Plasticity Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, Postgraduate Program of Biochemistry, Institute of Basic Health Sciences, UFRGS, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil
