Autism Research Institute
The Autism Research Institute (ARI) is an organization that created a controversial program, Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!), in 1995.[6] ARI was founded in 1967 by Bernard Rimland.
Defeat Autism Now! (DAN!)[edit]
DAN! advocated for alternative treatments for autism and maintained a registry of doctors that were trained by the program to perform them.[7] DAN! was one of the more prominent advocates for the now discredited belief that vaccines may be a cause of autism.[2] Its "highest rated" autism treatment was chelation therapy, which involves removing heavy metals from the body.[7] Its chelation treatment was not supported by mainstream doctors.[8] Doctors told the Chicago Tribune the treatments were dangerous and that misleading tests were used to show that those with autism had a high rate of heavy metals.[7] According to the Chicago Tribune, metals occur naturally in the body and very little is known about what a normal range is.[7] As of 2009, three-fourths of families with a child diagnosed with autism will try an alternative treatment like those that were prescribed by DAN!.[7]
ARI's director said in 2011 that the organization's views on autism treatments had changed.[6] The DAN! program and doctor registry was discontinued in January 2011,[9] which was followed by the disbanding of the DAN! conference in 2012.[10][11]