Having a child with Autism can be extremely challenging, as they are not like regular children and they cannot be treated as such. Autistic children respond differently, they learn differently and each is unique in their own way. When dealing with natural and other therapies, each child will respond differently, some will be improved by one diet, supplement or therapy and others will require something quite different. This article will tell you what has worked for some parents and children, but you will have to try these out to see what your autistic child responds to.
Let’s start with the diet. An Elimination diet seems to have great success for quite a number of autistic children, with the parents eliminating anything with dairy in it. Specifically the Casein (milk protein), eliminate this for a month then take away Gluten next. Gluten is contained in many foods like: wheat, barley, spelt, kamut and many other foods that contain wheat (soya sauce, malt, artificial colours and flavours and more). It is thought that Gluten takes up to six months to leave the system, so continue this diet for at least six months. Some feel that children with autism cannot properly digest gluten and casein; this triggers an immune system response and affects the child’s behaviour, responses and how they perceive the world around them. Your child might also be allergic to corn, soya, chocolate or any other substance.
Make sure you keep them off of chemical foods, artificial colours, flavours, MSG, Hydrolyzed Vegetable Proteins, Aspartame, Sucrolose, Nitrates, BHA, BHT and other preservatives. Watch their sugar intake, as sugar is a drug and can lead to Diabetes. An imbalanced blood sugar can affect a person’s mood. Even children without Autism have been shown to react to artificial colours.
Giving your child supplements that feed their brain and calm their nervous system can also be helpful for Autism. Products like Fish Oil, Enzymes, B Vitamins, Vitamin D, Lecithin, Magnesium, Calcium, Zinc, B6, DMG and Pro-biotics.
EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) has been used on Autistic children with good results. EFT involves tapping on specific acupressure spots and repeating appropriate phrases, on a daily basis until improvement is seen. Emotions play a much larger role in our health conditions than we think they do.
Detoxing is important for Autism. They have linked an overload of toxic chemicals as one of the causes of Autism. Some parents choose Chelation for detoxing their children, but this can be harsh and the results can be short lived, so Detoxing through Homeopathy seems to work best. It will take longer, but has more long term affects.
Homeopathy can work very well for many conditions, provided you find the right remedies (there are thousands) specific for that person and you have patience. It works by correcting the vibrations of that person and you find the right remedy by looking at their life history and your child’s symptoms, both physical and emotional. It has been used with great success for Autism, but it takes years and patience, some mothers have even stated their child has been cured of Autism. Here is a symptom finder for Autism.
We are overwhelmed with chemical toxins in our world and our children’s bodies are not able to handle this toxic chemical overload. One researcher says this is the cause of autism. Chemicals like Mercury (this is the one most studied), the researcher feels have a lot to do with Autism and we have yet to study the more than 75,000 chemicals on the market. Take a look at the products you use in the home, the skin care, hair care, room sprays, cleaners, lawn care, foods, drinks and more that we use on a daily basis; these are just filled with chemicals. Our bodies were not meant to have these many chemicals in them; our children are our canaries in the coal mines.
Chiropractic has also been found helpful for some families. With one family’s experience, they noticed improved speech and communication with in four to six weeks. They took their child to be adjusted by a Chiropractor once a week, for the first month, then once a month after that. The adjustments also helped with his posture.
There are even some speculations about TV watching being a cause of Autism; they have also found links between TV watching and ADD. TV watching especially for younger children has been shown to damage the developing neural pathways in their brains. Dr. Mercola says you should definitely take the TV out of your child’s bedroom.
There is not just one cause of Autism and every Autistic child will not respond to every remedy and technique. At least this will give you some ideas of where to start and what to try to better your Autistic Child.
Anne is the creator of healthbrights.com & childhealthbook.com, where she writes informative, easy to understand Healthy Living Articles. Anne gives Nutritional Consults both in person and over the phone. She is the Author of the book "Real Solutions to Children's Health" and she speaks on health related topics such as: Breast Cancer Prevention, Children's Health and more.