Improving Autism Challenges with MeRT: A Path to Greater Independence

For the millions of Americans who live with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) — about 1 in 36 kids and 1 in 45 adults in the United States — life can be challenging thanks to issues with communication, social skills, and restrictive and repetitive behaviors.

While there may be no cure for this complex developmental and neurological condition, there are avenues that can help people with ASD to better navigate their worlds, and this very much includes magnetic e-resonance therapy (MeRT).

At Braincare Performance Center - Cardiff our focus is on this exciting approach to brain health, and we’ve found great success in using MeRT to address a range of issues — from anxiety to autism — that originate in the brain.

Here’s a look at how MeRT can help surmount some of the hurdles that come with ASD, allowing more independence and integration.

ASD: A condition that can isolate

When we say that ASD is complex it’s no exaggeration, as the neurological and developmental condition can lead to varying degrees of:

• Verbal and communication challenges
• Difficulty with socialization and reading social cues
• Repetitive behaviors and routines
• Intolerance toward change
• Sensory hypersensitivity
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) behaviors

As the name suggests, ASD is a spectrum, which means that people can have mild to severe symptoms. For example, some people with ASD can function perfectly well while others are completely nonverbal and lead very structured lives. Most people with ASD lie somewhere in between these two extremes.

Wherever one lies on the spectrum, challenges exist, especially when it comes to interacting with the world around them, which is where MeRT can help.

MeRT and autism

Since ASD is a neurodevelopmental condition, it makes sense to target the brain directly, which is precisely what we accomplish with MeRT.

MeRT is a precision guided form of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which is a noninvasive neuromodulation therapy in which we deliver magnetic impulses into certain areas of the brain to influence and improve brain activity.

With MeRT, we first map the patient’s brain activity with a quantitative electroencephalogram (qEEG). Using this information to guide us, we can better target certain areas of the brain to improve function, such as those areas that control communication or mood regulation.

While the use of TMS in the field of autism is relatively new, results so far have been very promising. One meta-analysis of studies of the use of TMS for autism found, “Discernible enhancements across a spectrum of scales are evident in stereotyped behavior, repetitive behavior, and verbal social domains.”

From disrupting repetitive patterns to improving the way a person speaks and makes eye contact, MeRT is helping people with ASD to function more independently and confidently in a world built on interaction.

Undergoing MeRT

Not only are MeRT treatments noninvasive, they’re also quick and easy: about 30 minutes each. Since ASD is a spectrum, it’s difficult to say here how long the MeRT therapy should last, but most people undergo 4-8 weeks of treatments.

During this time, we continue to track the progress through qEEG and make any necessary tweaks to the neuronavigation along the way.

If you’d like to learn more about the many benefits of MeRT for autism spectrum disorder, we invite you to contact our office in Cardiff, California, at 858-306-1070. Or, you can schedule an appointment online today.