The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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November 5, 2009

Helping others

Autism Recovery Resource Center to open

Bev Davis

The Autism Recovery Resource Center, PLLC, located in the Beckley Medical Arts Building at 2401 S. Kanawha St., will open officially Friday with an open house and ribbon-cutting at 5:30 p.m.

The center, which provides a number of resources for children and families with special needs, was opened by Dr. Janet Lintala, a licensed chiropractor whose son’s diagnosis of autism prompted her to find a way to help other parents.

“Because there is no one known cause or a specific set of symptoms for every child with autism or children who fall somewhere on the autism spectrum, parents and physicians may face a long journey of trial and error to find what works best for an individual child. This center is a place where parents can come and learn about research that has been done and find resources to help them recover their children,” Lintala said.

By recovery, she does not mean a cure, but rather helping a child develop to his or her potential.

“Recovery takes many forms, and every parent with a special needs child wants to help that child maximize his or her potential. We can offer some practical information and support for parents who sometimes find themselves with no place to turn for help,” Lintala said.

The center includes the use of biomedical therapies, some of which are controversial.

“Biomedical is a way of thinking about medical problem-solving, not a fixed set of tests and treatments,” Lintala said. “The subject of biomedical thinking is the individual, the details of whose story provide the grist for the mill that delivers treatment options. There is no one-size-fits-all biomedical treatment protocol for autism. But there is a biomedical approach to the treatment of each individual child in the spectrum, just as there is for prevention and treatment of chronic illness in general. Getting the questions right is more important than getting the label or diagnosis right.”

The ribbon-cutting will be followed by a tour of the facility and an open house reception that includes wine, heavy hors d-oeuvres and prizes.

“We want this to be a nice evening. We want it to be fun, but we also want to introduce the community to what we have to offer,” Lintala said.

— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com

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