MeRT safety?

October 17, 2024 1:35 PM

My son is 4 years old and has been in various kinds of therapies for 2 solid years, as well as attending preschool with an aide. He is still nonverbal and has made noticeable but minimal progress in most areas (communication, toileting, engaging with peers, etc.) I have recently heard of MeRT and gotten interested in it, and there's a clinic in my city...

Of course my main concerns are safety for my son, particularly as he is nonverbal and cannot let us know how he feels, physically or emotionally. I believe this treatment is not FDA approved for children but is approved for depression. I have suffered from depression and anxiety my entire life and struggled to control it with therapy and medication. To that end, we are considering having me undergo MeRT at this clinic first so I can experience exactly what goes on, and then having my son try it. Is this a crazy idea? I would never want to harm my son so if anyone knows where to find more information about MeRT in children, I'm all ears. The studies I've found primarily are about MeRT and depression.

posted by Forty-eight to Health & Fitness (7 answers total)

I’m sorry I don’t personally know anything, but the first response to this ask in r/autismparenting says they’re an LAT reporter with some studies. Maybe a place to start anyway.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Autism_Parenting/s/0zqhrpE8Ei
posted by toodleydoodley at 2:11 PM on October 17 [1 favorite]

WHOA hold on there. Is your kid autistic? If so, have you sought out and read/listened to the voices of autistic people about the therapies ("therapies") that you have been using on your kid? Have you sought out the voices of nonspeaking autistic people (they are out there!) about what nonspeaking autistic people need and want? Have you given your kid access to AAC?

Transcranial magnetic stimulation is not a treatment for autism. Autism is not depression.
posted by heatherlogan at 2:41 PM on October 17 [3 favorites]

Here is a place to start.
posted by heatherlogan at 2:44 PM on October 17

PLEASE learn about oral motor apraxia. Nonspeaking does not mean nonthinking. Hari Srinivasan is another good source.

Sorry for the multiple replies; I will stop now.
posted by heatherlogan at 2:54 PM on October 17

I do not think that experiencing TMS yourself will give you a good basis for understanding how an autistic person, especially a young autistic child, would experience it. I strongly advise seeking out experiences from actual autistic people, as well as medical professionals on using TMS at this age and for this purpose.

You might take a look at John Robison’s memoir about his experience with TMS as one data point, or some of his blog posts , although he experienced it as a verbal autistic adult so it’s not a direct match for the situation you are contemplating.
posted by Stacey at 3:07 PM on October 17 [1 favorite]

Another good search term is "facial hypotonia." Autistic people often have hypermobility spectrum disorders, so low muscle tone may be a factor. In that case, motor strengthening exercises will be more useful than MeRT. Here's an example of what that might look like.

There are so many ways to talk. AAC (Alternative and Augmentative Communication) devices could be helpful! Or what about signing or written language?
posted by lloquat at 3:48 PM on October 17 [1 favorite]

Forgive me if this seems obvious or reductive, but what is the presenting problem you’d be trying to solve by having your child do MeRT?

If you and your child and family are overall doing okay with his condition and treatment by reasonable measures, but you’re anxious about leaving a stone unturned that could accelerate or otherwise enhance your child’s therapeutic regimen, then low-risk, low-reward advice might be most helpful for us to provide. If this is generally the case for you all, I would discourage you from MeRT.

If the problem is that your kid or your own quality of life is so untenable that you are willing to try absolutely anything to relieve one or all of your suffering, that is a whole other avenue of risk assessment and advice. (I still wouldn’t personally recommend MeRT in that scenario).

I just did a shallow dive into MeRT and my spidey senses are tingling. I see a bunch of for-profit websites touting its praises, and not a single academic article (at least not easily found) that uses that acronym. That is a yellow flag to me. What I do see are meta-analyses about small TMS studies for treatment of autism, which all say something akin to “efficacy TBD / needs more legit research / we cannot currently recommend without more data”. That’s another yellow flag.

Definitely co-sign the above advice to center autistic perspectives as you consider options.
posted by seemoorglass at 4:44 PM on October 17 [3 favorites]