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ATEC OVERVIEW

Why Choose ATEC?

Our vision at Microbaric® Oxygen Systems is to have a treatment model that fits in and works with family life.  Our devices are designed to be deployed and used at home as we believe this is the most effective way to minimise stress and disruption for the autistic person and also allow the regularity of treatment needed to maximise impact  Although our pilot study caregivers shared extensive diaries of the changes they saw during the treatment period, we also needed an objective and more specific measurement that would give clarity on the level of change created by Microbaric® Oxygen Therapy.  

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Key criteria for measurement system selection

  • Established Autism specific rating scale, generally accepted, validated with supporting studies.

  • Freely available to the caregivers

  • Can be performed by non-professionals, i.e the caregiver

  • Specifically designed to evaluate the efficacy of treatments by measuring the changes in the individual over time. 

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For the pilot studies we chose the Autism  Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC), developed by Stephen M. Edelson(PhD) and Dr Bernard Rimland of  the Autism Research Institute.  

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This graph shows the ATEC scores from one of our pilot study subjects.  As you can see, the measured changes are profound.

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Brief Explanation

The ATEC is divided into four categories or subscales and together, these produce a total score. The subscales are:

  1. Speech, language, and communication

  2. Sociability

  3. Sensory and cognitive awareness

  4. Health, physical, and behaviour
     

​For all scores, the higher the value, the more severe the autism. The highest total score possible is 179. A total score over 104 is considered to be severely autistic, and a total score of 30 or less is considered to be mildly autistic.

As stated by Geir, Kern and Geir in their 2013 paper :- A Comparison of the Autism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC) and the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) for the Quantitative Evaluation of Autism

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"In conclusion, the results of this study revealed a significant correlation between total ATEC and CARS scores. It was also observed that there were significant correlations between the ATEC domains and the CARS total score. The findings from the study validate the parent-completed ATEC in comparison with the CARS, an established, professional-related measure of autism."

A link to the full paper can be found here : https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19315864.2012.681340

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​It is important to mention that the ATEC is not a diagnostic tool, although research in the future may find that the ATEC, or a subset of its questions, can be used to diagnose autism or possibly a subtype of autism.  If you are looking for support for diagnosis you should seek advice from a healthcare professional.

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Full details on ATEC, several studies attesting to use in measuring treatment efficacy, and access to the ATEC evaluation online can be found on the ARI Website.  

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