Across the world, parents of autistic children are being offered something that
sounds almost miraculous. Clinics promise better speech, better eye contact,
calmer behaviour, and in some cases claim to repair or reverse autism. The price
runs from £10,000 to £40,000, and often more than once.
Over the last few months we've been approached by clinic after clinic wanting to
come on the show and sell it to you. We said no. Instead we went and read the
studies.
This one isn't about having a go at parents. Every parent looking at this is
acting out of love, and we've both been desperate enough to try anything. But
love doesn't mean a clinic gets to make huge claims without evidence. Stem cell
therapy is a legitimate area of research. It is not currently a proven treatment
for autism, and there's a difference between something being researched and
something being proven.
We also get into the ITV whistleblower, and the GB News piece asking whether
"those people" should have access to children.
Timestamps
00:00 Hope, science, or a very expensive gamble
02:21 We are not attacking parents
10:15 What autism actually is
13:18 What stem cells actually are
15:56 The 2017 Duke study, 25 kids and no placebo
18:47 The 2020 Duke study, and what it found
24:38 Claim: a 95% success rate
29:08 Why you'd swear blind it worked
31:45 Thomas and Lydia progressed. Neither had stem cells
35:37 Claim: it repairs the autistic brain
38:12 Claim: most children improve
40:45 Claim: our treatment is evidence based
43:02 The risks nobody puts in the brochure
48:00 What that money could buy instead
50:45 The influencer taking commission
54:02 Have a word with yourself
66:45 "Have you missed the treatment window?"
72:32 Myths and facts
82:55 The ITV whistleblower
86:50 GB News and "those people"
Latest episode in the link tree in bio.
