Autism

Introduction:

Autism belongs to a group of neural developmental disabilities called Autism spectrum disorders. The name “spectrum” arises from the fact that these disorders affect each child differently. These disorders involve delays in the development of many basic skills, including the abilities to socialize or form relationships with others, to communicate verbally and non-verbally effectively and restricted behaviour. Children with Autism may also have intellectual disabilities and behavioural challenges. Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood. Autism is one of the three recognized disorders in the Autism spectrum, the other two being Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and Pervasive Developmental Disorder, which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for Autism or Asperger syndrome are not met.

 

Signs & Symptoms of Autism –

Symptoms of Autism typically appear before a child is 3 years old and last throughout life. Children with Autism can display a wide range of symptoms, which can vary in severity from mild to disabling. General symptoms that may be present to some degree in a child with Autism include:

• Difficulty in verbal communication, including problems using and understanding language.
• Fails to respond to his or her name or appears not to hear you at times.
• Has poor eye contact and lacks facial expression.
• Doesn’t speak or has delayed speech, or may lose previous ability to say words or sentences.
• Can’t start a conversation or keep one going, even when the child has the ability to speak. May only start a conversation to make requests or label items.
• Speaks with an abnormal tone or rhythm – may use a singsong voice or robot-like speech.
• May repeat words or phrases verbatim, but doesn’t understand how to use them.
• Difficulty with non-verbal communication, such as gestures and facial expressions.
• Difficulty with social interaction, including relating to people and to his or her surroundings.
• Difficulty making friends and preferring to play alone. Resists cuddling and holding.
• Unusual ways of playing with toys and other objects, such as only lining them up a certain way.
• Doesn’t appear to understand simple questions or directions.
• Doesn’t express emotions or feelings and appears unaware of others’ feelings.
• Doesn’t point at or bring objects to share interest.
• Approaches a social interaction inappropriately by being passive, aggressive or disruptive.
• Develops specific routines or rituals and finds it difficult adjusting to changes in routine or familiar surroundings. Has an unreasonable insistence on following routines in detail.
• Gets disturbed at slightest change. May be uncooperative or resistant to change.
• Repetitive body movements, or patterns of behaviour, such as rocking, hand flapping, spinning and head banging.
• Has problems with coordination or has odd movement patterns, such as clumsiness or walking on toes, and has odd, stiff or exaggerated body language.
• Preoccupation with unusual objects or parts of objects.
• Could be fascinated by details of an object, such as the spinning wheels of a toy car, but doesn’t understand the “big picture” of the subject.
• Could be unusually sensitive to light, sound and touch, and yet oblivious to pain.
• Does not engage in imitative or make-believe play.
• Could become fixated on an object or activity with abnormal intensity or focus.
• May have odd food preferences, such as eating only a few foods, or eating only foods with a certain texture or colour.

People with a form of Autism, called Autistic Savantism, have exceptional skills in specific areas such as music, art, and numbers. People with this form of Autism are able to perform these skills without lessons or practice.

 

Other Symptoms –

Some people with Autism have other symptoms which might include:

• Hyperactivity (very active)
• Impulsivity (acting without thinking)
• Short attention span
• Aggressive behaviour
• Causing self injury
• Temper tantrums
• Unusual eating and sleeping habits
• Unusual mood or emotional reactions
• Lack of fear or more fear than expected
• Unusual reactions to the way things sound, smell, taste, look, or feel

 

Possible Alarming signs –

Children develop at their own pace, some more quickly than others. However, you should consider an evaluation for Autism if you notice any of the following signs and symptoms in your child:

• Your child does not babble or coo by 12 months of age
• Your child does not gesture, such as point at an object to show interest or wave, by 12 months of age
• Your child does not say single words by 16 months
• Your child does not say two-word phrases on his or her own (rather than just repeating what someone else says) by 24 months
• Your child repeats words or phrases over and over (echolalia)
• Your child gives unrelated answers to questions
• Your child flaps his or her hands, rocks his or her body, or spins in circles
• Your child has unusual reactions to the way things sound, smell, taste, look, or feel
• Your child does not establish or maintain eye contact and wants to be left alone
• Your child does not make facial expressions or respond to your facial expressions
• Your child has not gained any language or social skills (as per age)

 

Causes of Autism –

Autism spectrum disorder has no single known cause. Given the complexity of the disorder, and the fact that symptoms and severity vary, there are probably many causes. Both genetics and environment may play a role.

• Genetic problems – Although there are theories that state genetic factors do cause Autism, no one gene has been identified to cause Autism. Researchers are searching for the irregular segments of genetic code that children with autism may have inherited. Autism tends to occur more frequently than expected among individuals who have certain medical conditions, including fragile X syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, congenital rubella syndrome etc. Some harmful substances ingested during pregnancy also have been associated with an increased risk of Autism.
• Environmental factors – Researchers are currently exploring whether factors such as viral infections, complications during pregnancy or air pollutants play a role in triggering Autism spectrum disorder. Those with autism (or those at risk) may be especially vulnerable to such toxins, as their ability to metabolize and detoxify these exposures might be compromised.

 

Homoeopathic Approach in treating Autism:

The fundamental problem in Autism appears to be genetic. Homoeopathy looks for the underlying causes of Autism thereby dealing with it at the root level.

Autism treated in the conventional method is usually with the help of medical supplements which treat the anxiety, hyperactivity or the other behavioural problems that are seen in autistic children. Behavioural training and management is also advised during the treatment of Autism. Homoeopathy helps in targeting the root cause of the problem and thereby deals with the causes of Autism from within. The main aim and objective of Homoeopathy has always been to treat a person individually and relieve the patient of their symptoms from within.

Homoeopathy helps in treating the behavioural problems of an autistic child. Homoeopathy thereby changes the core nature of the child. Thus by means of which the autistic child can continue his daily routine and lifestyle like any other normal child.

The homoeopathic treatment for Autism is based on an extensive case study of the patient with regards to his/her characteristic symptoms, genetic predisposition, and their mental state. The total time taken for the treatment differs from person to person depending on the duration, intensity and frequency of the suffering, maintaining causes, susceptibility and general health of the patient.

The goal of homoeopathic treatment for Autism is to identify the main cause for the occurrence of symptoms. Homoeopathy then uses the body’s own mental powers to behave normally like other children. Autistic children have some exceptional skills like being good at art, with numbers or music. With the help of homoeopathy, the erratic behaviour of autistic children can be fine tuned and the health of the child can be enhanced. This leads to the strengthening the good skills of the child so as to let the child lead a normal life.

Hence homoeopathic treatment along with occupational therapies and behavioural training, can help in improving the lifestyle of an autistic child and thus let the child lead a normal life.

It is therefore advisable to choose Homoeopathy for treating your child’s autistic behaviour, because it helps to deal with the behavioural troubles faced by the parents of an autistic child thus letting the child live like any other normal child.

 

How Dr. Neha Seth can help you with your autistic child?

Dr. Neha Seth believes in giving the patient immediate relief with a shorter period of treatment. The prime line of treatment is to consider every disease to be a result of an allergy. The patient is first asked to get her Serum IgE levels done. The Serum IgE levels are expected to be high in every patient with symptoms. To know the allergen that is causing the disease, an allergy test is done. There are two types of allergy tests that are done – a blood test and a skin test. Usually the skin allergy test is asked for; reason being it costs 1/10^th the cost of the blood test. With the help of the allergy test, the allergen is identified and treated accordingly. The patient is immediately asked to stop consuming that food item which is the primary allergen. In case the allergen isn’t a food item and it is rather something like dust, pollen or chemicals etc, then the patient is expected to minimize the exposure as much as possible and keep away from the disease causing allergen. Since the maintaining and the causative factors are now known, homoeopathy works wonderfully once these causes are removed. The parents of the autistic child will therefore experience a reduction in the intensity and frequency of the behavioural symptoms.

With homoeopathy, Dr. Neha Seth has shown the following changes in behaviour of children –

• Better at maintaining eye contact.
• Better identification of shapes, colours and animal noises.
• Relevant answers to questions posed.
• Responds to his name when called.
• More formed words instead of babbling.
• Better obeyance of simple commands.
• Improved language with usage of more specific words.
• Better interaction with family at home and with teachers and colleagues at school.
• More responsive to orders and a little less hyperactive.

With effective homeopathic treatment, most children can hopefully continue at a normal school thereby avoiding special schooling and thus stay in the mainstream of society. Hence, Dr. Neha Seth and homoeopathy can help you in dealing with your autistic child and eventually help your uniquely abled child lead a healthy, normal life.