Autism

An interesting case of a young boy diagnosed with Autism. This boy was very talented and he has exemplary skills in playing the piano but was very hyperactive and the attention span was very less. There was lack of comprehension, certain sensory issues, putting the hands to the ears, arranging things in one order, lack of eye contact were few of the major concerns.

The parents were very co operative and they send us video clippings and we also had a video chat to understand the case as they were separated by distance, in such cases we take the help of modern technology which has been a boon in building these gaps. They were also provided with the Dr.Joshi's specialized Homeopathic case taking format for Autism.

On careful analysis and evaluation of the child following were the characteristic symptoms that were taken into consideration for treatment:

• Sleep position: Knee chest position
• Feels very hot want the Air conditioner on most of the times
• Likes to keep himself uncovered even when it is very cold
• Craving for Ice

Homeopathic Remedy given: The child was prescribed Medorrihnum 200c one dose once in 15 days for 1 month was prescribed.

What we were able to achieve in this case: The child showed marked improvement in all the faculties, the child was under our treatment for 2 years and he has recovered so much that he tops the school and goes to a normal school with special attention is provided to him. He has been playing his piano and has excelled in it. We are very happy that with the right Homeopathic medicine we could treat this child and bring the best in him.

Parent's role The parents were extremely co operative in giving case history as per Dr.Joshi's specialized Homeopathic case taking format for Autism. This helped us in finding the right Homeopathic remedy that suited the child's constitution. They also gave regular feedback and followed Dr.Joshi's Specialized Homeopathic Treatment process for Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as per the instructions.

Let us see how Homeopathic treatment in Autism works ,here is a case of a male child age 2 1/2 yrs was brought to our consultation room for treatment of mild Autistic features. On the C.A.R.S score he obtained 33 point which indicates mild to moderate Autistic features. The child had three episodes of seizures at the age of 5 months. The parents reported that he is overactive and most of the time he doesn't sit still. He usually plays with himself and does not play much with pears.

The parents also reported that if he interacts with children he would usually hit them, pull their hair etc. Also he does not respond when he is taught some thing, when asked to follow instructions. He some times expresses his joy when he sees some relatives, guests or known people but does not interact much with them. When he is angry he bangs his head in anger, shouts and throws temper tantrums. He is very obstinate by nature and if the demands are not met he throws temper tantrums. The child was very hyperactive when he came to our consultation room. He did not sit in one place but moved around the room. The child has eye contact for a short span. He does not respond to any verbal command. Occasionally he communicated by non verbal means like touch.

The child also makes continuous babbling and specific noise. The child loves to listen to fast song and rhythmic music and he will dance to the tune. Besides this the child makes specific movements of the hands like waving of the hands and he will bang things, look at them and starts laughing.

We asked the mother if she had any emotional trauma or stress during the pregnancy. She replied that she had a good pregnancy and she had no major tensions during her pregnancy.

• Birth weight: 3 kg
• Age of walking: 1 yr 6 months
• Age of eruption of first tooth: 6 months
• Speech development: he developed 2-3 mono-syllabus but now that has also disappeared.

• The child feels very hot and he wants the fan and air-conditioner most f the time.
• The child loves to eat spicy food, salt, lemon, banana and cold drinks
• He has strong aversion to sweets.
• He has severe constipation and passes motion once in 2 days. He has to strain a lot.
• He has fear of fire.
• He used to walk on toes earlier.

On careful analysis and evaluation of the case history, the patient was prescribed Tarentula Hispanica. He was given 3 doses and was asked to report after 14 days. After 14 days the mother reported that the flapping motion of the hands has increased.He is lost in his own world but a positive sign was that the child had started to play with children, he sleeps for a longer period. His constipation has reduced. Now he responds after being called for 2-3 times, earlier which was absent. Patient was given Sacrum Lactis for 14 days.

The patient reported restlessness, head banging, disturbed sleep, and chest congestion, better when he sleeps in knee chest position. Thirst for large quantities of water, feels very hot and desires to uncover. The patient was prescribed Medorrhinum, 3 doses and was asked to report after 14 days. The child showed marked improvement in all his complaints. His attention span has increased, his restlessness has decreased. Chest congestion is better. He plays with children and the most important part was he stared to speak single words. The patient was under our treatment for 1 1/2 yrs and he showed continuous improvement in his Autistic symptoms and now he has stared to go to school for special needs where he under goes therapies.

Homeopathy plays an important role in the treatment of Autism as the Homeopathic remedies acts at the level of Psycho-neuro-endocranial axis. Homeopathic remedies helps in bringing back the imbalance to a balanced state. The right Homeopathic remedy has the potential to treat complex disorders with good success, if it is practiced in the right way.

To see the desired result in the Autistic children along with Homeopathy Occupatinal therapy, speech therapy etc is must. Counseling of the parents, relatives and care givers is necessary to make them understand the complexity of the disorder and to handle and help the child in the right way. The right Homeopathic medicines and other therapies can bring out the best qualities in these special children who are gifted with special talent.

A 9 yr old child was brought to our consultation after they read about our specialized Homeopathic treatment and successfully treated cases of Autism on our website www.happylivin.com.

• Hyperactivity: the child used to run around from one end of the house to another end. And he had no concept about fear that he will get hurt.
• Irrational fears: if he goes to a new place he will be afraid and he will constantly peep in the rooms and refuse to go inside. He also has excessive fear of darkness.
• Anger and temper tantrums: when he is angry he will hit himself in the neck, he will sometimes bite himself. When he is very irritable he will talk very loudly and sit in one place forcefully and will not move from that place. He also spits when he is angry.
• Obsessive behavior: some times he will do the same thing again and again like arranging the bottles in one row.
• Lack of eye contact and timidity: His complaints started after 1 1/2 years of age when he was vaccinated for MMR, HIB, DPT vaccine. After vaccination he developed convulsions, which was followed by high grade fever. All his complaints started after this episode. His eye contact deteriorated and his hyperactivity increased to a great extent. After this he was put on allopathic medicines to control his anger and hyperactivity but still their was no change in his behavior.

Mothers state of mind during pregnancy:

Mother had lots of tension during pregnancy. She was under tremendous mental stress due to her personal problems. Besides this she developed bleeding during the last trimester and was on complete bed rest. The labor was prolonged.

• Birth weight: 6 pounds
• Age was walking: 10 months
• Eruption of first tooth: 6 months
• Age of talking: does not talk yet

• Appetite: normal
• Craving: strong pungent food, bread butter
• Aversion: bland food, sticky food
• Urine, stool, perspiration: normal
• Sleep and dreams: sleep disturbed very restless, hold someone near to him very tightly and sleeps.
• Sometimes he plays with his external genitalia.
• Past history: malaria
• MRI of the brain: showing normal study

Patient was prescribed Strammonium LM3 for 14 days

Patient's mother reported that his hyperactivity has reduced to great extent. His teacher says he sits in one place now and his attention span has also increased. He is able to follow commands and gestures. His eye contact has increased. There is marked reduction in temper tantrums and in obsessive behavior.

This improvement in the child was observed in short span of 1 month with Homeopathic treatment. The patient is still under our treatment and we advice parents / caregivers to continue Homeopathic treatment on long term bases to get the desired results.

This is a case of 2 years 9 months old girl who came to us for treatment of Autism with Homeopathy. What bothers the mother most is that she doesn't respond or pay attention to any other person's call except her mother's voice. Similarly the case of maintaining eye contact with mother is good and she can maintain eye contact for a long but not with others.

If anyone calls her pet name in a different tone other than the usual one she will respond with a smile. The child also throws lot of tantrums and is uncontrollable; she is very fussy and is very hyperactive. At times she does daring things and is not afraid at the same time she is very careful not to hurt herself.

Some of the factors that increase the severity of the complaints are:

• Change in her sleeping timings
• Change in her feeding timings
• Presence of noise that she doesn't like
• Presence of some unknown person

Investigations:

CARS test score was 35.5

• Cravings: Eggs and Chocolates, ice
• Thirst: half glass of water every 30 minutes.
• Perspiration: Not much
• Urine: normal
• Stools: Once in 2 days on an average, Stools are hard sometimes.
• Sleep and Dreams: The child sleeps for 8 hours at night and 2 hours in the afternoon. The position in the sleep is on the sides or sleeps in the Knee chest position. Sometimes she is not comfortable in the sleep. There is no information about the dreams as the child is not communicating fully.

• Birth weight: 2.950 kilograms
• Age of walking:11 months
• Age of talking: Speaks alphabets can't remember the age of talking
• Eruption of the first teeth: 11 months

Mother's emotional state during pregnancy: the mother was stressed during the pregnancy and it was quite severe.

The child feels very hot on the whole and she doesn't cover herself even if it is very cold.

• Sleep position: Knee chest position
• Hyperactivity, restlessness
• Stools Hard, constipation
• Feels very hot
• Ice desires

The child is not yet communicative, but if she is asked to identify something or complete the nursery rhyme she will do it. She is also able to tell all the alphabets in order with the related word and numbers from 1 to 25 without a mistake.

Role of Homeopathy in Autism:

The major areas of concern of most of the parents of Autistic children who come to us are poor cognitive skills, Obsessive compulsive behavior, violence, temper tantrums, hyperactivity, and attention deficit.

Our aim in cases of autistic children is to reduce the hyperactivity, increase the attention span and reduce the sensory issues. In certain cases the children have shown tremendous improvement and potential. Also along with homeopathic medicines counseling of the parent and to observe the special skill in the child is very important.

Homeopathic remedies bring about a healthy change by stimulating the internal healing mechanism of the body. It also corrects the imbalance and helps in reduction of hyperactivity, increasing the cognitive skills, eye contact, and overall improvement in the individual.

Parent's of young girl aged 4 years was referred to us by one of the child's parent who was under our treatment for autism. The child was diagnosed at the age of 1 year 10 months with mild to moderate autism. The major concern for the parent when they came to us was her hyperactivity, she just cannot sit in one place, and spinning and jumping around is also quite marked.

The child likes to climb and there is no element of fear in her this also caused lot of tension to the parents as she will not tell even if she gets injured. Fine motor skills are also not developed as per her age. She cannot hold a pencil or write or draw anything. She understands wearing clothes and shoes which she does on her own.

Developmentally the child started walking by her first birthday; she is now running can jump from heights. The child was normal till the age of about one year. She was speaking in single words and also using gestures like waving bye and blowing kisses. Concern started at the age of 1 year 10 months when she stopped using those words and does not gesture anymore. The child is unable to respond consistently when her name is called and there is minimal eye contact.

The child is unable to comply with simple one step instructions with or without gestures. When the care taker has to call her they have to touch her or call her repeatedly then she will respond. She doesn't like to play with toys she prefers to run around the house or spin.

She likes music and will enjoy herself; she is also inclined to make noise. Sometimes she walks on her toes. She loves to go out in open places and tries to play with the children and is happy when she is with children. She also has an obsession for blue color.

• Diet: Non vegetarian
• Appetite: Good
• Cravings: Rice, lentils, Ice, Cold drinks
• Thirst: Will ask for water and takes around 2 liters in a day.
• Sleep and Dreams: Good sleep on alternate nights will be restless in sleep. Wakes up on least noise. Always sleeps in knee chest position.
• Urine: normal
• Stools: Constipation and lot of discomfort has to strain.

• Sun: Doesn't cause any problem
• Air conditioner: loves it will go near the outlet of air conditioner and enjoy the cold air.
• Fan: Likes
• Covering: Dislikes taking covers
• Bath: Lukewarm water

• 1 brother aged 12 years: normal
• Father and Mother have no major illness

The Observation of the Clinical Psychologist was that the child was found to have average functioning in relation to social maturity. Autism index on the CARS test is suggestive of autism. The childhood autism rating scale (CARS) and ATEC results indicate mild to moderate autism.

Treatment:

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is growing at an alarming rate every 1 child in 88 is Autistic. It is important to diagnose it at an early stage so it will help in starting the treatment and occupational therapies to achieve substantial improvement in the individual. In this paper I have tried to touch on to the importance of Homeopathic treatment in Autism, I have not included the detailed follow-ups but have summarized it in a paragraph.

Autism is characterized by failure of the child to develop communicative language or form proper social communication. But they show motor and other skills far beyond that of a mentally retarded child. Autism is characterized by varying degrees of impairment to develop communicative language or form proper social communication. Some of them are obsessively pre occupied with inanimate objects such as lights, running water or spinning objects, and also by repetitive behaviors. Symptoms range from mild to severe. Some of the children gradually develop extreme talents such as in mathematics and these are retained mostly throughout the life. Studies of people with autism have found abnormalities in several regions of the brain which suggest that autism results from a disruption of early fetal brain development.

There is a milder form of the disorder known as Asperger's Syndrome. Other developmental disorders that fall under the Autism Spectrum Disorders are Rett's Syndrome, PDD-NOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified), and Childhood Disintegrative Disorder. If you have concerns about your child's development, don't wait: speak to your doctor about getting your child screened for autism.

The biggest issue with this young male child aged 7 years is he doesn't comprehend when things are described to him. If he has read a story and at the end of it if he is asked a question he will go completely blank. He is good in mathematics, reads everything but when there is a subjective question he will go blank.

Another major issue is he is unable to follow directions and unable to focus on the work he is supposed to do. The child also has problems in writing and this skill has not yet developed in him. He cannot properly hold the pencil and write. He also doesn't get along well with children of his age group, as he will start screaming if things don't go his way.

Hyperactivity is another major issue, he cannot stand or sit in one place properly even for some time. He cannot sleep easily it takes a long time about one to two hours to make him sleep.His daily activities are he gets up in the morning at around 7 am does his daily routine and goes to school at 8 am and comes home by 3 pm. After this he will play, do his homework, take shower, eat dinner and go to bed. He also goes to martial arts and piano classes. Besides this he plays video games and watches Television.

His physical development is good and healthy. The child was perfectly alright till 24 months of age. After he received the MMR vaccine shot he developed high grade fever. After a few months of this episode he got a convulsion followed by few more convulsions. All the investigations were normal except the EEG, which showed some epileptic tendency. So the child was put on antiepileptic drugs. Even with these medications the child used to get seizures. After sometime the doctors stopped the medicines but he still the seizures continued. During convulsions there was rolling of the eyes in the upper left or right corner, he will stop communicating, which is followed by spasms and foaming from the mouth. The child was a planned pregnancy; mother didn't have any tensions during pregnancy. The delivery was full term and normal. His birth weight was 7 pounds, Age of walking -14 months, age of talking first word 8 months and sentence formation by 42nd month. There were no dentitional problems. The parents were asked what the child does when he is angry they told that he will shout, scream and run around. He also loves to dance especially to fast tracks

• Craving: Pan cakes, Pizzas, burgers, yogurt
• Sleep and dreams: doesn't want to sleep but when he is forced to sleep he will fall asleep fast and sleeps in supine position and doesn't wake up from sleep.
• Thermals: Likes fan and air conditioner, takes covers but kicks them off. Sun causes redness of the body and increased body heat.
• Perspiration: profuse
• Thirst: Normal.

Yes Autistic children can become independent with the right intervention programs, therapy and proper care from the early stages once the child is detected with Autism. A sustained effort is needed to achieve the desired outcome from therapy and treatment. As Autistic children are having special capabilities which when nurtured properly can be a great asset in making the individual independent.

A child was diagnosed with Autism at the age of three with severe behavioral problems. The child was restless and extremely hyperactive. The hyperactivity was in the form of constant jumping, climbing on the window panes and running from one room to another.

The child was extremely violent and used to beat up the parents badly, if he didn't get what he wanted. Sometimes the child had to be immobilized as there were chances of injury to him and others. In anger he used to break things, throw things, he would slap him self and clench fist in anger. The child is very aggressive by nature and he laughs when he is scolded. The child has no fear what so ever.

Besides this the child used to handle his external genital, removes his clothes and walk all around laughing. This behavior was very disturbing for the parents but they were unable to find the solution for the same.

The child loves to sing when he is in the mood. He doesn't interact or mix with children of his age group. He has a limited set of speech and his fine motor skills are very poorly developed.

He is obsessed with tearing, books, and paper. He doesn't like to brush his teeth, constantly puts things in mouth. He has grinding of teeth at night. He wants light on always. Earlier he used to walk on toes.

• Birth weight: 3 kg
• Age of walking: after 1 year
• Age of talking: before 2 years
• Delivery was full term, cesarean section, as umbilical cord was around the neck.

• Paternal grand father: IHD
• Maternal grand father: Depression
• Father: Allergies
• Mother: Dermatitis

• Diet: Non vegetarian
• Appetite: Good
• Cravings: biscuits, fruits, ice, eggs
• Aversions: Lot of spicy food Thermals.
• Thermals: feels hot
• Perspiration: ++ generalized on the body
• Urine / stool: had to use diapers. Not trained.

As per our specialized case history form where we study right from mother's state mind at the time of conception to the complete case study of the child's emotional nature, intellectual aspirations, fears, social behavior, physical ailments all these are taken into consideration to select the right homeopathic medicine.

In this case the child was conceived after one month of marriage. Both the parents were very happy but immediately they had to move to another country due to job transfer. During this stage the mother was emotionally very disturbed as she was unable to adapt to the social culture and the norms in this new country. She was depressed and used to cry a lot throughout the pregnancy. She was feeling home sick and the sudden loss of family support which she used to enjoy in India was not available so she used to feel very sad. She had tremendous fear of staying alone. Her husband was very supportive but due to his nature of work he was not able to spend much time with her. This was mother's history during pregnancy. Mother's state of mind is very important as it can directly affect the child's health.

The mother had a very difficult prolonged labor and it was a vacuum delivery. The birth weight of the child was 7 pound 8 ounces.

• Age of walking: 18 months
• Crawling: 16 months
• Age of teething: 9 1/2 months. Child had dentitional diarrhea
• Age to talking: 1st word at 18 months. At the age of 2-3 years gradually the speech got reduced.

The child has a severe problem in focusing, sitting in one place, severe hyperactivity, increased energy level, easily distractible, fearlessness, low muscle tone, difficulty in writing, clumsiness, lack of why Questions (curiosity), cannot understand cause and effect, licking and biting. On a scale of 10 these problems were marked at grade 7 indicating severe problem in these areas of functioning.

Besides this there was moderate problem with eye contact, speech expression, forming sentence structure, receptive speech, following directions, impulsivity, fidgetiness and completing tasks.

One of the major problems the parents were facing with the child was extreme hyperactivity. The child would not sit in one place and used to run from one end of the house to the other. He used to constantly jump and more when he was excited. The extreme restlessness increases when he listens to music. He loves rhythmic music and when he is excited he goes round in circle. The child is very good at labeling and associating things. Also another peculiar characteristic is that if he reads anything once he can recollect the whole thing word by word. The child is very obstinate by nature and if he wants something he cannot take no for an answer. If he is not given what he wants then he becomes very angry and destructive and breaks his toys.

Some of the habits are boring of fingers in the nose, putting things in his mouth, playing with the external genitalia, pinching self and others. He doesn't like to brush his teeth or take a haircut. He falls easily while walking. Besides this he is scared of darkness, swings, spinning, shadows and holograms. He had fear of social interaction; he used to become very nervous and used to vomit. He also suffered from lots of separational anxiety from mother.

Answers in mono syllables, no expression on the face, no motor imitation (cannot imitate and sing at the same time). Fine motor skills are very clumsy - writing is difficult, cannot hold pencil properly. Recollects old things out of context. Likes to tear books and pages. Drooling while talking. Moving of fingers and toes in sleep, also blinking of eyes in sleep.

• Appetite: normal
• Cravings: sweets candies, juices
• Aversion: -
• Perspiration: of the scalp
• Urine: normal
• Stool: constipation, hard stools, has to strain a lot.
• Thermals: feels hot on the whole.
• Thirst: not much likes to drink juices
• Sleep: on abdomen, in knee chest positions.
• Covering: Wants soles to be uncovered

Repertorisation table to be inserted

The Homeopathic treatment is going on for the past 1 year and the child is showing marked improvement.

A right homeopathic medicine when prescribed in the right dose and correct repetition it brings in the improvment. The homeopathic medicine is selected on the symptom totality so an in-depth case study is needed to select the right medicine. Once this is achieved the medicine will act at the level of Psycho-Neuro-Endochrinology axis and bring the imbalance to a balanced state.

A 9 yr old child was brought to our consultation after they read about our specialized Homeopathic treatment and successfully treated cases of Autism on our website www.happylivin.com.

• Hyperactivity: the child used to run around from one end of the house to another end. And he had no concept about fear that he will get hurt.
• Irrational fears: if he goes to a new place he will be afraid and he will constantly peep in the rooms and refuse to go inside. He also has excessive fear of darkness.
• Anger and temper tantrums: when he is angry he will hit himself in the neck, he will sometimes bite himself. When he is very irritable he will talk very loudly and sit in one place forcefully and will not move from that place. He also spits when he is angry.
• Obsessive behavior: some times he will do the same thing again and again like arranging the bottles in one row.
• Lack of eye contact and timidity: His complaints started after 1 1/2 years of age when he was vaccinated for MMR, HIB, DPT vaccine. After vaccination he developed convulsions, which was followed by high grade fever. All his complaints started after this episode. His eye contact deteriorated and his hyperactivity increased to a great extent. After this he was put on allopathic medicines to control his anger and hyperactivity but still their was no change in his behavior.

Mother had lots of tension during pregnancy. She was under tremendous mental stress due to her personal problems. Besides this she developed bleeding during the last trimester and was on complete bed rest. The labor was prolonged.

• Birth weight: 6 pounds
• Age was walking: 10 months
• Eruption of first tooth: 6 months
• Age of talking: does not talk yet

• Appetite: normal
• Craving: strong pungent food, bread butter
• Aversion: bland food, sticky food
• Urine, stool, perspiration: normal
• Sleep and dreams: sleep disturbed very restless, hold someone near to him very tightly and sleeps.
• Sometimes he plays with his external genitalia.
• Past history: malaria
• MRI of the brain: showing normal study

Patient's mother reported that his hyperactivity has reduced to great extent. His teacher says he sits in one place now and his attention span has also increased. He is able to follow commands and gestures. His eye contact has increased. There is marked reduction in temper tantrums and in obsessive behavior.

This improvement in the child was observed in short span of 1 month with Homeopathic treatment. The patient is still under our treatment and we advice parents / caregivers to continue Homeopathic treatment on long term bases to get the desired results.