The Scope of Homeopathy in Autism

Samir Chaukkar

Batra’s Academy Pvt Ltd, India

Abstract

INTRODUCTION

Autism is a developmental behavioral disorder with its onset commonly seen in infancy or early childhood. The lack of awareness about this condition is the reason why it is considered ‘rare’, as often general practitioners are not aware of the existence of an entity called ‘Autism’ and most of them are labeled ‘mentally retarded’. Autism occurs along a ‘spectrum’, meaning that the symptoms and characteristics can occur in a variety of combinations, from mild to severe. No two individuals with autism are exactly alike, even in the way their autism shows itself. An autistic child is a child who has lost or never achieved a contact with other people and is totally withdrawn and preoccupied with his own fancies and stereotyped behavior.

WHAT ARE THE EARLY SIGNS?

• Onset within 3 years of life

• Child looks at one object constantly

• Child does not give an eye contact on calling

• Child does not respond to his name

• Child does not give a social smile

• Child does not recognize family members

• Child is busy in his own world

The common end symptoms might be some or many of the following:

• Annoying obstinacy in behavior

• Poor verbal expression uses gesture to means for his needs

• Repeating words or phrases

• Laughing, crying without apparent cause

• Prefers solitude

• Throws Tantrums

• Difficulty in social interaction together with his age or elders

• No eye contact while communication Unresponsive teaching

• Failure to perceive fears of danger, resulting in jumping from high place, twiddling with pointed objects

• Physical hyper-activity or under-activity

• Underdeveloped fine motor skills

• Not aware of verbal instructions with normal hearing

• Spinning objects

• Inappropriate possessiveness to objects

• Over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain

• Screaming and shouting out of proportion

• Repeats the same words (echolalia)

Treatment is typically slow and gradual, and requires careful case management skills. *Extreme anxiety, desperation, and sometimes dysfunction in autism families, thanks to the strain and financial pressures of their situation. Impatience with treatment is usually the norm, which works against the realities of what parents should expect. Simultaneous use of many forms of intervention, including diets, supplements, chelation (in various forms), and a myriad of other therapies such as behavioral therapies, auditory therapies, osteopathy and craniosacral treatment. Many treatments are that specialize in the myriad symptoms (e.g., gut problems) instead of the underlying explanation for the disease. Parents seeking out “homeopathy” are unaware of what homeopathy is and sometimes find yourself with a poorly trained (or untrained) practitioner who simply offers off-the-shelf combinations, machine testing, daily doses of remedies that are viewed as “vitamins”, etc. in other words, very allopathic approaches to homeopathy

Homoeopathy is a relatively newer mode of intervention in the treatment of Autism and its merits still remain shadowed from the general population, as Homoeopathy has a long way to go before its well-deserved credentials are felicitated by the modern world. All autistic patients should be treated with homeopathy.

Three main reasons:

• First, the conventional treatment of psychiatric drugs is meant to calm the patient down, not to cure.

• Second, autism is really a spectrum. It ranges from mild to severe and, in Dr. Herscu’s opinion, is caused by a spread of diseases, some neurological, some biochemical, etc. With accurate homeopathic treatment, all cases will move within the right direction. It is only a matter of how far. However, he was quite clear in stating that the degree of autism didn’t seem to correspond to the degree of the cure. In other words, mild cases may receive only partial benefit, whereas some severe cases are greatly suffering from homeopathic treatment.

• The third reason for choosing homeopathy is that many of the other therapies, such as diet and nutrition, seem to work much better after homeopathic treatment.

CONCLUSION

In particular, the advantages of sensory integration therapy are increased by the action of an honest homeopathic remedy. My study helped me to understand that Homeopathic medicines do not merely act on any one particular organ of an individual but it has much more deeper and central action on psycho-neuro-endocrinological and psychoimmunological axis it works well to correct the accentuated state of sensitivity. It also helps improve fine motor skills as well as perceptual difficulties. Behavior modification through Homeopathic medicines is an age old well documented function. Carefully selected Homeopathic medicine brings about qualitative change at a wide range of symptoms in children with autism. It also helps in behavior modification to reduce child’s hyperactivity, irritability, violence etc. Thus it plays a distinct role in reducing or eliminating autistic features Homoeopathy ranks higher than other forms of medical management of Autism, as unlike others, it acts at the level of miasm, susceptibility and sensitivity, which are important in the genesis of Autism and the manifestation and progression of its various symptoms. Thus we conclude that Homeopathy is an effective weapon to tackle this epidemic of Autism and can bring a smile on the face of parents as well as the children suffering from this disorder.