Martha Herbert - Harvard Health Books

Martha Herbert, MD, is an assistant professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School, a pediatric neurologist at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, and an affiliate of the Harvard-MIT-MGH Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, where she is director of the TRANSCEND Research Program (Treatment Research and Neuroscience Evaluation of Neurodevelopmental Disorders).

Dr. Herbert trained in pediatrics at Cornell University Medical Center and in neurology and child neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital, where she has remained. She received the first Cure Autism Now Innovator Award and is now on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Autism Speaks. Her background in pediatric neurology, evolutionary biology and history of science has oriented her toward systems biology, brain connectivity and dynamism, and brain-body interrelationships. Her book The Autism Revolution: Whole Body Strategies for Making Life All it Can Be has been very successful and widely praised.

How does the environment affect people with autism?
How does diet affect people with autism?
Is autism preventable?
Is autism curable?

Whole-Body Strategies For Autism With Dr. Martha Herbert

September 13, 2012

By Richard Zwolinski, LMHC, CASAC & C.R. Zwolinski

Interview with Martha Herbert on "The Autism Revolution"

May 25, 2012

The Autism Revolution: An Interview with Dr. Martha Herbert

January 1, 2012

By Polly Tommey

Autism's Causes: How Close Are We to Solving the Puzzle?

April 20, 2011

The Autism Revolution: Interview with Martha Herbert by Lu Hanessian

January 1, 2011

The Autism Revolution

After years of treating patients and analyzing scientific data, prominent Harvard researcher and clinician Dr. Martha Herbert offers a revolutionary new view of autism and a transformative strategy for dealing with it. Autism is not a hardwired impairment programmed into a child’s genes and destined to remain fixed forever, as we’re often told. Instead, it is the result of a cascade of events, many seemingly minor: perhaps a genetic mutation, some toxic exposures, a stressful birth, a vitamin deficiency, and a series of infections. And while other doctors may dismiss your child’s physical symptoms—the diarrhea, anxiety, sensory overload, sleeplessness, immune challenges, and seizures—as coincidental or irrelevant, Dr. Herbert sees them as vital clues to what the underlying problems are, and how to help. In The Autism Revolution, she teaches you how to approach autism as a collection of problems that can be overcome—and talents that can be developed. Each success you achieve gives your child more room to become healthy and to thrive.

About the book

Praise

Martha Herbert’s book gives us a new approach to understanding how autism affects many different body systems. It is essential reading for learning more about sensible biomedical treatments.

- Temple Grandin, author of Thinking in Pictures and The Way I See It
This book offers hope and practical guidance to heal your child’s whole body system. It will be an important reference for everyone who knows someone with autism or has an interest in the field to read, study, and use.

- Robert L. Hendren, DO, professor and vice chair, Department of Psychiatry, and director, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco
Combining meticulous, world-class research on autism’s biomedical causes and treatment with an artful presentation of the condition as a whole-body phenomenon, Martha Herbert elevates to a new level the thinking about, understanding of, and developing of interventions for supporting individuals on the autism spectrum. The Autism Revolution is a unique and valuable resource.

- .”— Stephen M. Shore, EdD, assistant professor of special education at Adelphi University
Written by a brilliant scientist in easy-to-understand language, The Autism Revolution gives parents two life-changing gifts. First is the gift of realistic hope; the second is the gift of knowledge. Drawing upon her vast knowledge of research and an eclectic array of approaches, Dr. Herbert helps parents understand their child in a new, holistic way, sending them on a journey of exploration and opportunity.

- John L. Martin, director, Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities
The Autism Revolution is a remarkable book. Complex evidence is summarized in easy-to-read prose, and practical advice is sprinkled throughout the book. A convincing case is made that autism is a disorder of both the brain and the body, and that there are many features of the environment—from the foods we eat to the pollutants that we breathe—that may play a role. This book will provide a blueprint for the future research agenda on this fascinating condition.

- Richard J. Davidson, William James and Vilas Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry, and founder and chair, Center for Investigating Healthy Minds, University of Wisconsin-Madison
It is clear that Dr. Herbert cares deeply about the subject of autism and the people affected by it. Covering the topic as a physician, a scientist, an anthropologist, and a philosopher, she uses her exploration of autism to guide people to possible factors they may not have considered.

- Timothy Buie, MD, assistant professor of pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

Harvard Health Books

Martha Herbert MD

Speaking Points

In the Media

Whole-Body Strategies For Autism With Dr. Martha Herbert

Interview with Martha Herbert on "The Autism Revolution"

The Autism Revolution: An Interview with Dr. Martha Herbert

Autism's Causes: How Close Are We to Solving the Puzzle?

The Autism Revolution: Interview with Martha Herbert by Lu Hanessian