ACUPUNCTURE
This idea came from a reader who graciously gave me permission to use it on my website.
"Hi Amy,
Was going through the internet on your article on AUTISM,
and I would like to share a little of my experience with you. I have a son
(9 yrs.now) who the doc. says is autistic. Just a few months ago we began
ACUPUNCTURE treatments.
We were first introduced to accupuncture by a colleague. She has a son (5+yrs.) who has the same symptoms and behavior as my son. At first she did not want to tell us because she was not sure if it would work. After sending her son for the accupuncture treatment for 6 month she found that her son had made tremendous progress. Only then did she dare to recommend that treatment to us. Her son can speak quite normally now. Can read and do some writing. As a matter of fact I would say that he is not autistic no more. She still sends him for treatment. According to the Doctor it helps to speed up his learning and understanding of things.
We can see a lot of improvement in our son now. If he fancy, he will sing the 'Happy Birthday' song. Twinkle little star is another song he likes to sing. He now mix with people. He mumbles alot. Oh, he is pretty good in simple Jig saw puzzles. He can take simple instructions. I do not know if there are good acupuncture doctors in USA. The one that our son goes to is very good. I will try and get you more info.
As parents we went through a lot of trouble trying to make sure that he is given the best both medically and spritually. As chinese, we are very superstitious so we would go and ask for blessing and pray for him. I will try and share some of my experiences in Religion with you sometime. We do believe in many religions. All of them teaches us to be good.
By the way, my wife sends her regards to you and your family. We would love to know more about the speech aid technic. Over here in our country speech therapy is very expensive. If you can spare me some info, I may be able to help our son a little."
Share your Comments,Suggestions, Questions.
Teach your autistic child, friend, sibling, relative, to use affirmations. Simply put, an affirmation is a positive statement about oneself. Some ideas for affirmation statements:
The goal here is to improve self-esteem, self-respect, and self-image, as well as to combat negative thoughts. Affirmations can be repeated as often as a person feels necessary to help him/her maintain a positive attitude. And affirmations can be used by anybody, no matter what their level of functioning. I recommend that everyone use affirmations - they are very healing to the spirit.
ENCOURAGE A PERSON WITH AUTISM TO VISUALIZE A WONDERFUL OUTCOME TO EVERYTHING S/HE TRIES.
Even if the actual outcome does not turn out the way it was visualized, help that person know that s/he is one step closer to what s/he wants to achieve because s/he is practicing all the time. And through this practicing improvement can be seen, and hopes are kept high. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Riding in the car is extremely difficult for my sister Mary, so she visualizes riding in the car and mentally practices getting through the ride with no problems. It is still really hard for her to ride in the car, but there have been improvements.
In her mind Mary also practices going to public, busy places, because this is another uncomfortable area for her. Now when she goes to a public place there are improvements in her attitude and her behaviors. Her hopes are kept high because she sees these improvements, and because she's not afraid to dream.
Mary visualizes her dreams, and she sees progress being made towards those dreams, even in her 'failures'. My Mom reminds her that Thomas Edison tried over thousands of tries before he even came close to inventing the light bulb, but each time he failed he knew he was closer to success than the last. Now this is the same feeling that Mary has. As long as there is improvement, even small improvement, she can keep trying.
The important thing here is to keep practicing. Because one of these times it's all going to fit together perfectly!!!!
I have read several articles by Dr. Bernard Rimland of the Autism Research Institute regarding the benefits of adding a vitamin supplement routine to the diet of autistic people. While vitamin therapy is not a treatment specific to autism, using vitamin supplements, especially the B vitamins, has shown positive results in speech patterns, behaviors, and attitudes of people with autism.
For more information on these treatments or to contact Dr. Rimland, click on the link below: