Autism

Imagine that the messages you are receiving from the world are so scrambled and distorted that ordinary things just don’t make sense.  Your world is a jigsaw puzzle of scattered pieces. This is what daily life can be like for people with autism.   Not surprisingly, when you can’t understand clearly what’s going on and you can’t communicate effectively with anyone, you retreat into you own world, turning away from speech and avoiding eye contact.  You fid it hard to understand other people’s feelings, and other people find it hard to understand you.

Autistic children and adults try to cope in a number of ways.  In an attempt to create order from the jumble of their senses, the may develop obsessive patterns of behaviour – insisting on going the same way, doing the same things.  Or they may develop apparently irrational fears.

It is usually parents who first notice “something strange” about their young child’s behaviour.  He or she may not play imaginatively with toys or other children, seems indifferent to what’s going on, and/or talks “at” people in an odd, repetitive way, paying little attention to their responses.  Some autistic children also behave in a challenging way, screaming or biting and kicking other people, perhaps because they are anxious and frightened.  One theory is that autistic children are supersensitive to certain sounds, which can make them irritable, frustrated and even hysterical.  “It’s as though he’s permanently at an airport and hearing through the loudspeaker system”, said one mother about her autistic son.

For autism is far more than a problem of behaviour.  It is a complex and variable form of disability affecting four times as many boys as girls.  Three quarters of autistic children also have learning difficulties or other disabilities; while a tenth have a special skill such as music or art.

There are different theories about what causes autism.  Research shows that a range of conditions – from maternal rubella (German measles) and lack of oxygen at birth, to complications of childhood illnesses – can affect brain development before, during or after birth.  Other experts believe that the M.M.R. (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccination or food sensitivity may be to blame, although this is a highly controversial area.  There is also a school of thought that over-compression of the skull during birth has caused head pain, which autistic children may try to relieve by head banging.  From a bioenergetic or “healing” perspective, autism is the manifestation of a great imbalance of energies at a cellular level.  Healers describe these as “very low-power energies over a wide range of frequencies which affect electrical, magnetic and chemical processes in the body”.

Whatever the cause, the result is a sensory-processing disorder, so that the autistic person receives information in a distorted and disorganized fashion, in turn disrupting their ability to communicate.  It’s vital to spot autism early in a child’s life if they are to be helped out of their isolation – and if their families are to receive the necessary support.

THE ORTHODOX APPROACH

Traditionally, autistic children have been put in residential schools and kept out of the community.

Holding” or physically restraining children to modify their behaviour has also been tried, as have sedative drugs and medication.

As yet there is no “cure” for autism, but these days orthodox health professionals aim to help autistic people develop their social and communication skills so that they can become more independent and live fuller lives.

THE HALE APPROACH

The Hale Clinic approach to autism is unique and, provided the child is monitored by a child psychiatrist, the following approach to treatment is likely to be the most beneficial.

Autism is not like some illnesses, for which you take a pill and have an 80-90 percent chance of success.  It is a matter of selecting a range of treatments and educational tools which will help to improve the quality of a child’s life.  Each child’s response to treatment will vary – from dramatic improvement to subtle change.

Many parents look at complementary medicine and see a whole range of possible treatments for their child.  They are often very uncertain what action to take.  At the Hale Clinic we have had considerable experience with autistic children, and this is our recommended approach.

First, start treatment as soon as possible after autism is diagnosed.  The younger the child is, the easier it is for any treatment to be effective.  Cranial osteopathy can be of great assistance and we advise seeing a cranial osteopath even if there has not been a difficult birth.

Secondly, see a nutritional/allergy specialist, in case food allergies are playing a part I aggravating the child’s autism.  Then try homeopathy with healing.

The child should now be in a position to gain the maximum benefit from Auditory Integration Training.  The child’s ears are first tested by an audiogram to see if he or she is oversensitive to certain sounds, in which case a course of treatment to normalize hearing would be recommended.  Follow-up “booster” treatments may also be needed.  In addition, parent support groups are set up to help monitor progress.

Parents of autistic children are unsung heroes ad heroines.  They also need support, which may take the form of relaxation, healing or aromatherapy.

OSTEOPATHY

According to one osteopath, autism is not a syndrome but a wide-spectrum mode of behaviour with multi-factorial aspects – behavioural, mechanical, emotional and biochemical.  One possible treatment involves cranial osteopathy (“involuntary movement”).  This subtle movement of the bones in the skull allows the body to find a fulcrum, enabling it to rebalance itself optimally.  More about osteopathy...

NUTRITION/AURICULAR ACUPUNCTURE

One homeopath, acupuncturist and nutritional therapist uses a two-pronged approach to help children with autism.  “I use auricular acupuncture (Stimulating points on the ear)”, he explains, “working with both the nervous and the limbic (the part of the brain concerned with raw emotion) systems”.  Autistic children generally won’t put up with the insertion of needles into their bodies, so he uses a harmless device which looks like a pen torch, but is in fact an infra-red laser.

“I have to talk to the children about it, and sometimes my hand on their cheek, so if they move, the laser moves with them”.  Each child requires stimulation to different points, according to individual sensitivities which are picked up through the pulse in the wrist.

The second aspect of this therapist’s treatment of autism is to use nutritional therapy, assessing whether the child’s system is burdened by allergy to particular foods.  “Tummy upsets may be a sign of sensitivity to milk products; scaliness of the skins suggests a problem with grains”, he explains.  There is also a blood test we can perform to find sensitivities, but it is costly”.  Eliminating certain foods – from eggs to sugar, from wheat to dairy products – can leave the child’s body in a stronger state to deal with autism.  Supplements such as magnesium and Vitamin B6 may also help. 

Together, the results of these therapies can be very gratifying.  “It’s a matter of improvement rather than cure, but after about three or four treatments, the child may be less inwardly directed, responding when his parents speak to him and communicating better”.  More about nutrition...  More about acupuncture...

PSYCHOTHERAPY/COUNSELLING

Autism is often confusing and distressing, not just for the autistic child but for his or her family.  For this reason counselling often focuses on helping carers to manage their own feelings about and relationship with the child, as well as coping with the child’s challenging behaviour.  This kind of support seems to be long term and may involve counselling, medical input and periods of respite care.

“Psychotherapy or psychology can also help carers and families learn how to praise and reward appropriate behaviour”, says one psychotherapist, “so as to foster positive development and to discourage negative or inappropriate behaviour.  Most autistic children also need special schooling, and careful planning is needed to help the child make the transitions from home to school, between schools or from school to adult educational provision”.  More about counselling...  More about psychotherapy...

BIOENERGETIC MEDICINE

Bioenergetics is a modern system of diagnosis using a computer to measure electromagnetic energy to the brain.  Sensors attached to you body measure your physical reaction to over 3,000 conditions, treatments and compounds, including homeopathies, viruses, chemical toxins, fungi, amino acids and vitamins.  Only a handful of therapists in the world use bioenergetic diagnosis, but they have found it effective for a wide range of disorders, including autism.  “It’s like an electronic form of kinesiology”, explains one therapist.  “The body reacts to various substances it likes or dislikes, diagnosing for itself and indicating what is going on in the body”.

Autism, she believes, can be caused either by damage at birth or by a form of chemical damage – whether that involves a viral, a chemical or fungal agent.  “Once we can pinpoint what caused autism, we can treat it.  A colleague of mine has a severely autistic child, which could be because his wife was given pills for morning sickness while pregnant.  This child was treated bio energetically and with homeopathy, and now teaches other autistic children”.

Once diagnosis is complete using the bioenergetic computer, the causative factors are treated with homeopathic remedies.  “This is 21st century healing”, says the therapist, “using a computer to empower the earth’s most intelligent system – you”.  More about bioenergy healing...

HEALING

“Children with autism respond wonderfully to healing”, according to one healer.  “Their brains are working very, very fast so that all their senses are scrambled and I work to slow it all down”.

Some of the children she has treated have remarkable perceptual experiences, such as “seeing” sound and “hearing” colour.  They are often very brilliant children, too”, she says, “spiritual and very receptive”.  Spiritual healing, she has found, can bring “very good results” in the treatment of autism.

Another way of describing the healing process is to compare the healer to a “lower-power, multi-frequency laser machine, setting up a self-healing process entered on the pituitary and pineal gland area in the centre of the head”.  The aim is to re-establish balance of cellular energies at a very subtle level.  Some healers also call up colours – especially sky blue and indigo for problems such as autism – while listening intently to the responses of the patient.  The result can be a kind of cellular reprogramming, which can help people with autism to adjust to their condition.  More about healing...

SELF-CARE

Flower remedies: Bluebell and Sundew, both Australian Bush flowers, are said to be helpful in autism.

Aromatherapy: Soothing oils such as clary sage and jasmine may be useful in calming an overwrought child.

Another important aspect of self-care is to maintain good nutrition, avoiding foods that my burden the body through allergic reaction.