AUTISM & HOMEOPATHY

Our brains construe, interpret, and understand things that we see, smell, hear, taste, touch, and experience. However, when someone's brain — a child’s, for instance — has trouble inferring them, it can make certain ‘normal’ things difficult, viz., speaking, talking, listening, comprehending, playing, and learning.

Autism, or autism spectrum disorder [ASD], refers to a host of conditions, categorised by challenges with regard to social skills, repetitive behaviour, speech and non-verbal communication, aside from unique disposition differences. There is, according to clinicians, not just one autism type; there are many, caused predominantly by a diverse interplay of genetic and environmental factors.

The problem with children having autism is: they just can't make connections that other kids make easily. When someone smiles, we all know they are emoting happiness; when they are upset, anyone would tell by their face, or voice, that they are angry. However, most kids with autism do not understand what such emotions are, or look like, and what the other person is thinking. They might also act in a mode that appears strange, while making it difficult for others to comprehend why they are having such a ‘problem.’

Autism symptoms may be mild, severe, or somewhere in-between. For a child having mild symptoms, there is no need to do anything dramatic, but to provide a little bit of help. However, when a kid presents with severe symptoms, it is imperative to provide full-scale professional medical guidance, and other complementary behavioural supportive measures, to help improve their learning and also performing everyday routine.

Kids with autism tend to —

• Have problems in terms of learning the meaning, or intent, of words
• Be repetitive; they perform the same thing, like mumbling the same word, again and again
• Move their arms, or body, in a certain way
• Have difficulty in adjusting to changes, like savouring new food treats, a new routine, or having their things moved from their ‘normal’ places
• Have difficulty in expressing the right words, or what they need, or want. This makes them distraught and upset.

HOMEOPATHIC PERSPECTIVE

Homeopathy has several advantages over conventional medicine when it comes to treating children with autistic disorders. A homeopath treating an autistic child is focused and determined to ‘tapping’ as to what makes such a child different from another child. They will look, analyse and decipher common and uncommon symptoms that a child with autism may present with — and they, thereafter, separate the chaff from the grain. In other words, the homeopathic doctor will treat the whole child with autism — not just a part, or superficial symptoms — including the child’s temperament, idiosyncrasies, likes, dislikes, and other key, or unique, symptoms. This also encompasses language issues, milestone delays, amplified sensitivities, bowel problems, constipation, and impaired social function, or ability.

CLINICAL TESTIMONY

A study, published in The Internet Journal of Alternative Medicine, reports that homeopathy as a treatment modality could bring about a healthy change in the treatment paradigm of autism from just a behaviour modification approach to the homeopathic principle of ‘antecedent cause removal.’ It also states that internal treatment with homeopathic remedies that are dynamic in nature may possibly help to bring about a quick recovery from mild spectrum disorders and offer a glimmer of hope for the severe types of autism, at the end of the spectrum — e.g., in children who are non-verbal/low-functioning. This could lead to a possible reduction in efforts on the part of the child, the therapist and parents — with improved gains. Last, but not the least, certain positive pointers towards a more lasting solution to the problem of autism may, in the long run, help showcase the potential of homeopathy and the larger role it can play in severe, or complex, autism disorders.