As a fellow parent, I can empathise with the desire to explore all possible options for our children on the autism spectrum and the struggle to find treatments that make a meaningful change. All too often, we are limited in what therapies we can consider due to preconceived assumptions and advice from medical professionals. With that in mind, limiting therapies that we consider to use for our child is not wise.
We often look to our team of experts to suggest therapies. These experts are experts in their own field, however they are not experts in everything that autism is. Autism is broader than psychology or occupational therapy. It's broader than ABA. What can be disappointing to me is that experts suggest the therapy that they are expert in, or have affiliation with only. Those therapies are important, but it's concerning that they guide parents off the path of complementary and alternative therapies. Parents are even guided away from basic health promoting ideas such as a healthy diet.
As parents, we have the right to seek out and explore complementary and alternative treatments which may help our children cope with the challenges of autism. These therapies provide avenues through which we can enhance traditional therapies.
Of course, talking with your doctor or specialist regarding treatment decisions is an important step in this process as well. We can use this wealth of knowledge, as well as our own research and open-mindedness, to look at other possible treatments, such as healthy habits and natural therapies for ourselves and those around us.
These treatments can provide additional support for those with autism. Additional therapies and strategies can help to provide a more holistic approach to autism care. Children become healthier, more comfortable, more able to concentrate and better able to participate in traditional therapies. They can produce lasting effects that enhance the results of other therapies.
A common and obvious example is gut health. If your child has obvious gut discomfort, such as constipation and diarrhoea, why not take steps to improve gut health? Our son had chronic diarrhoea when he was diagnosed with autism. Our medical team suggested that this was irrelevant to his autism and no action was required to improve his gut health. Thankfully we decided to explore ways to help his gut. Improving his gut health had such a profound positive effect on his autism. It proved the importance of a healthy diet for improving his life.
Poor gut health often contributes to high inflammation. Not just in the gut, but throughout the body, including the brain.
There's growing evidence that suggests that mental disorders are difficult to resolve when the body is inflamed. Inflammation puts the body, brain and nervous on edge. When the body has a persistent stress signal, it's no wonder challenges such as anxiety and depression are more difficult to resolve.
I believe it's the same for Autism. There are many cases of children exceeding expectations when they improve health, reduce inflammation and remove toxins. That's why I encourage parents to strive to improve health as a way for their child to respond better to other therapies. With this in mind, improving health is a truly complementary strategy that enhances the other chosen therapies.
When it comes to treating autism, the low inflammatory and nutrient-dense diet can be a game changer. It's like an elixir of health that helps manage symptoms effectively without any side effects. A diet full of quality nutrient rich foods is essential for good gut health in people with autism. These foods reduce inflammation in both body and brain while providing several other health benefits too.
An overall healthy lifestyle, including getting enough sleep, reducing environmental exposure to toxins, and getting regular physical activity, will all help to reduce autism symptoms.
For more information with real world ideas to implement to improve health,
please visit this post. It's important to note that I don't encourage supplementation without proper testing and advice from a healthcare professional. Searching the internet and stabbing in the dark can waste a lot of money and can have varying results. The wrong supplement at the wrong time can make things worse.
Primitive reflex therapy is an alternative treatment for autism. It works by making people's primitive reflexes work better which helps their physical and mental health. It may even help children overcome persistent
toe walking.
Primitive reflex integration is an important step in treating autism spectrum disorder. These treatments involve stimulating the person’s nervous system in order to help them process information more effectively. This helps establish a connection between their brain and body, so they can better interact with their environment. I've seen how this type of therapy has helped my own child overcome some of his challenges relating to his ASD diagnosis.
In addition to helping children improve physical coordination, balance and motor skills, primitive reflex integration also helps children on the autism spectrum improve communication skills.
There are many other complementary and alternative therapies. Some of them include;
In reality, any therapy that can address any of the child's symptoms and challenges may be explored. Autism is a complex spectrum of symptoms and challenges, so it's not wise to limit treatment to the "standard of care". Autism is a wide spectrum, so we need to widen and expand our thinking.
You may have realised that the subject of complementary and alternative therapies is dear to my heart. That's what made the difference for our son. I could write much more about this topic, but, I need to keep this post brief. I have written more about various topics. If you're interested, please explore the other posts. I plan on writing a detailed post on this topic, but until then, you may want to explore the post -
4 Ways to Heal Autism Naturally at Home.
While you wait for the more detailed post, you can also join our online community for free. From this community, you can ask questions and get ideas from other parents, including myself. My job isn't to be the authority on Autism, but my goal is to help parents find the information they need.
Here is the link to the community.