Some swim therapists who work with children with autism report improved strength, improved balance, and increased social participation as a result of swim therapy.
This survey was designed to identify which positive effects would be most likely to be seen as a result of swim therapy for children with autism. The authors found that only about one-third of aquatic occupational therapists treat young children with autism. Of those that treat children with autism, most notice that children increasingly ask for help during the course of swim therapy. In contrast, most therapists do not notice an improvement in eye contact as a result of swim therapy. The authors hope that the results of this survey can be used to design a thorough study on the effectiveness of swim therapy in the treatment of autism.
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Ayurveda for Autism Spectrum Disorder
Jan 4, 2011 by sunethriayurved...Hi everybody,
I am Dr.Prasad M, MD (Ay.), working with autistic kids from 2002 onwards. I went through the article mentioned. Let me share with you an unbiased information on the scope of Ayurveda, the age-old Indian system of Vedic medicine, in the treatment of ASD. This is based 100% on my personal experiences. Kindly see the following passages. Comments and criticisms are welcomed whole-heatedly.
Scope of Ayurveda in Autism Spectrum Disorder
Trials with Ayurvedic medicines and treatments for their efficacy in ASD are going on at various centres in India and abroad. The main advantage of ayurvedic medicine is that it has got a magazine of safe therapeutic preparations of various forms which are developed by continuous trials and rectifications over thousands of years. There are many preparations like kwatha (decoction), churna (powder), arishta (self-fermented beverage), gudika (pill), ghrtha (medicated ghee), thyla (medicated vegetable fats) etc. In recent times, many of the herbs used in Ayurveda are proven to have excellent detoxifying effect as well as free radical- scavenging potential. The therapeutic preparations like kwatha are combinations of many herbs. These combinations are originally developed on the basis of ayurvedic principles. Till recent times these formulations were not given due consideration by the western scientists. But now the picture has changed. More and more ayurvedic preparations are under their evaluation. In Ayurveda, the compounds as well as single herbs are used for different purposes of health care like pacifying vitiated functional units called doshas, eliminating excessive toxic accumulations, providing targeted nutrients to tissues, tuning the mind-body coordination, sharpening the efficacy of sense-organs, and so on. These prescriptions are based on personalised evaluation of different aspects like body constitution, doshik status, power of digestion and assimilation, status of bowel evacuation, physical strength, mental constitution, and etc which is done by experienced physicians. Mind is an important factor in the healing of any ailment. It is assumed that mind is like ghee which is held inside a pot called body. If the ghee is hot the pot also gets warmed and if the pot is hot definitely the ghee also will be hot. You cannot expect warm ghee in a cool pot and wise versa. Similarly, food is given the supreme role in the healing process as well as in the maintenance of health. It is a basic concept in Ayurveda that there is no use for any medicine if one stick on to pathya (wholesome) food (as it brings about health spontaneously) and there is no use for any medicine if one stick on to apathya (nasty) food (as there is no scope for functioning of the medicine). In the context of autism, these assumptions are extremely important and seen exceptionally beneficial.
The care of autism, as per ayurvedic principles, is based on the protocol of a three-step intervention.
Again, though the stages are generalised the execution will be personalised.
The first stage is based on medicines almost completely. Medicinal preparations like purgatives, specific formulations for de-worming, for enhancing the functions of the liver and pancreas, for enhancing the digestive fire (Agni), and for regulating the intestinal motility are used in this stage. Certain preparations meant for squeezing out heavy metals from the tissues are also used. Turmeric, garlic, curry leaves, etc are having this advantage.
Second phase is mainly comprised of massages. Traditional methods like abhyanga (hot-oil massages), udwarthana (dry powder massages), pindasweda of various types, thalapothichil, pizhichil, etc are used here. These manoeuvres improve the muscle tone, reduce hyperactivity, create better motor coordination, and normalize most of the obsessive repetitive movements. Child sleeps well. The bowels become more regular at this stage. He/she will be more receptive to commands or suggestions. The demand for sensory stimulation slows down considerably and the symptoms like increased sensitivity to certain sounds (hyperacusis) slowly disappear. There will be oral medications parallel to the therapies and a few of these medications will be carried over to the next phase as well.
Third stage is very specific and sold not be started before the proper completion of the first two. This is an important point as there is a general tendency to mark the condition as mental retardation and to prescribe brain tonics and memory boosters to all autistic kids indiscriminately.
The major therapies in this stage are shirodhara (pouring of liquids like oils on the head), shirovasthi (holding of medicated oils on the head inside specially designed leather-rims), shiropichu (wetting the scalp with oil bandages), dhoopanam (fumigation with specific medicines) etc along with specific medications like kallyanakam kashayam, indukantham kashayam, gorochanadi gudika,balakanakapathradi kashayam, sidharthakam gudika etc. Certain specific herbs like sahadevi, sankhapushpi, vacha, vishnukranthietc are also used. Follow up is done with ghee preparations like mahakallyanaka, mahapaisachika, brahmighrtha, saraswathaghrtha, etc.
Conclusion
It is seen that the classical ayurvedic treatment done systematically give promising results in kids diagnosed with ASD. But it should be emphasised that the level of improvements is different from child to child. Another important point is that these interventions are made in a corrective manner. The child gets relieved of a lot of physical problems and tantrums. But this will not make him/her a normal child. Intensive training and special education are needed to put him on track and to catch up the peers. This requires the dedicated involvement of parents, special educators, and skilled professional like occupational therapists.
Scope of Ayurveda in ASD by Vaidya Prasad
Nov 13, 2009 by AnonymousTrials with Ayurvedic medicines and treatments for their efficacy in ASD are going on at various centres in India and abroad. The main advantage of ayurvedic medicine is that it has got a magazine of safe therapeutic preparations of various forms which are developed by continuous trials and rectifications over thousands of years. There are many preparations like kwatha (decoction), churna (powder), arishta (self-fermented beverage), gudika (pill), ghrtha (medicated ghee), thyla (medicated vegetable fats) etc. In recent times, many of the herbs used in Ayurveda are proven to have excellent detoxifying effect as well as free radical- scavenging potential. The therapeutic preparations like kwatha are combinations of many herbs. These combinations are originally developed on the basis of ayurvedic principles. Till recent times these formulations were not given due consideration by the western scientists. But now the picture has changed. More and more ayurvedic preparations are under their evaluation. In Ayurveda, the compounds as well as single herbs are used for different purposes of health care like pacifying vitiated functional units called doshas, eliminating excessive toxic accumulations, providing targeted nutrients to tissues, tuning the mind-body coordination, sharpening the efficacy of sense-organs, and so on. These prescriptions are based on personalised evaluation of different aspects like body constitution, doshik status, power of digestion and assimilation, status of bowel evacuation, physical strength, mental constitution, and etc, which is done by experienced physicians. Mind is an important factor in the healing of any ailment. It is assumed that mind is like ghee, which is held inside a pot called body. If the ghee is hot the pot also gets warmed and if the pot is hot definitely the ghee also will be hot. You cannot expect warm ghee in a cool pot and wise versa. Similarly, food is given the supreme role in the healing process as well as in the maintenance of health. It is a basic concept in Ayurveda that there is no use for any medicine if one stick on to pathya (wholesome) food (as it brings about health spontaneously) and there is no use for any medicine if one stick on to apathya (nasty) food (as there is no scope for functioning of the medicine). In the context of autism, these assumptions are extremely important and seen exceptionally beneficial.
The care of autism, as per ayurvedic principles, is based on the protocol of a three-step intervention.
Again, though the stages are generalised the execution will be personalised.
The first stage is based on medicines almost completely. Medicinal preparations like purgatives, specific formulations for de-worming, for enhancing the functions of the liver and pancreas, for enhancing the digestive fire (Agni), and for regulating the intestinal motility are used in this stage. Certain preparations meant for squeezing out heavy metals from the tissues are also used. Turmeric, garlic, curry leaves, etc are having this advantage.
Second phase is mainly comprised of massages. Traditional methods like abhyanga (hot-oil massages), udwarthana (dry powder massages), pindasweda of various types, thalapothichil, pizhichil, etc are used here. These manoeuvres improve the muscle tone, reduce hyperactivity, create better motor coordination, and normalize most of the obsessive repetitive movements. Child sleeps well. The bowels become more regular at this stage. He/she will be more receptive to commands or suggestions. The demand for sensory stimulation slows down considerably and the symptoms like increased sensitivity to certain sounds (hyperacusis) slowly disappear. There will be oral medications parallel to the therapies and a few of these medications will be carried over to the next phase as well.
Third stage is very specific and sold not be started before the proper completion of the first two. This is an important point as there is a general tendency to mark the condition as mental retardation and to prescribe brain tonics and memory boosters to all autistic kids indiscriminately.
The major therapies in this stage are shirodhara (pouring of liquids like oils on the head), shirovasthi (holding of medicated oils on the head inside specially designed leather-rims), shiropichu (wetting the scalp with oil bandages), dhoopanam (fumigation with specific medicines) etc along with specific medications like kallyanakam kashayam, indukantham kashayam, gorochanadi gudika, balakanakapathradi kashayam, sidharthakam gudika etc. Certain specific herbs like sahadevi, sankhapushpi, vacha, vishnukranthi etc are also used. Follow up is done with ghee preparations like mahakallyanaka, mahapaisachika, brahmighrtha, saraswathaghrtha, etc.
It is seen that the classical ayurvedic treatment done systematically give promising results in kids diagnosed with ASD. But it should be emphasised that the level of improvements is different from child to child. Another important point is that these interventions are made in a corrective manner. The child gets relieved of a lot of physical problems and tantrums. But this will not make him/her a normal child. Intensive training and special education are needed to put him on track and to catch up the peers. This requires the dedicated involvement of parents, special educators, and skilled professional like occupational therapists.
Repetition...Here I go again!!!
Jun 7, 2009 by AnonymousThis week was much like many others in the respect that I was going through a period of feeling totally overwhelmed with life in general and my emotional pendulum was yet again swinging from one extreme to the other, a phenomenon my family have long since chalked up to mom having “one of her days.” Nothing extremely out of the ordinary actually. I had been asked to submit again further documentation to my insurance company to substantiate the need for my son’s ongoing speech therapy. I had requested and received home work material for the expressed purpose of practicing hard won skills so as to ward off the ever present monster in the closet; regression. I had intended yet again to organize files, stow away winter clothes, check the fit of summer clothes, etc., etc. And then it hit me. As I checked emails, twitter accounts, my space pages and face book…it hit. This emotion that was at once akin to emotional vertigo and short of a panic attack. The overwhelming enormity of all that goes with caring for a child with ASD. It was a feeling that I could not quite place the night before as I watched my son struggle to perform math problems that we had been working on all year and still seemed to just escape his grasp. It was the feeling of clawing your way up a mudslide. It was the feeling of being stuck in one place while the world seemed to move around you. The repetition of it all in an effort to gain some minuscule ground and trying to find contentment in that. When that realization came, with it came the self-loathing. How could I possible feel tired of it, resentful, angry…and if I did, what must he feel?
In reading submissions from others on line and parents that I have personally connected with, I have come to one conclusion; the drive to protect, nurture, and see that our children flourish is all consuming. I have met some truly awe inspiring parents with children on the spectrum and have found evidenced in them immeasurable strength. But almost universally I have found that the same strength that drives us alternatively burns us out. We are called upon to wear so many hats that we find ourselves filled to overflowing. I have sought alternative ways to deal with this sense of feeling overwhelmed…therapy, exercise, prayer and mostly that works. I have learned to reprioritize my life. No longer is it most important that my house be spotless. There are days when I feel it would pass inspection by the Board of Health…barely. No longer are my finances handled with the precision of a calculator wielding accountant…thank goodness for online payments! The laundry may not be done to Martha Stewart’s standards…(ok, did that pile in the corner just move by itself…it’s small, I think I can take it!). Point is I am doing the best I can. Today. And maybe tonight in the solace of my beloved shower I will cry, long, shoulder wracking, hiccup inducing, eye swelling cries that will leave my eyes red and puffy as only my favorite shampoo can. I will toss and turn and watch another episode of Law & Order with one eye on the clock, and then sleep the sleep of a parent whose mind will not be still. Tomorrow is a new day, a new fight, a new challenge. A bus pulls into my driveway and his voice sing-songs on its way out through the closing door…”bye mom, love you” as it has every school day this year. I smile and realize repetition ain’t that bad.
Hello
Dec 29, 2007 by AnonymousHello,
this is my first time on this site and I wish I had found this site years ago....I found it by searching for info on casein free diets.
My son is on one since he was three years old, when he was a student and I was a para pro at a local special needs preschool. I learned a lot in the two years I worked there.....
Now I'm a special ed. teacher and share what I know with all my parents of behavioral children.
Casein free diets have worked for our son, but now we wonder if there is more to what is going on with him.
Jan. 14th we go to childrens hospital in our state to see if there is something else going on or something else we can do to help him....
Last fall he was diagnosised with ODD and severe ADHD, he is non medicated, because the medicine does not work on him....another sign that ADHD ma not be his problem..... I'm starting to wonder if Asperger's is not a better fit for him?
He is mood and snaps easily at everyone, he has strength that he does not know how to control, he is super smart but cannot complete all tasks as needed, and he cannot have milk in his diet, it harms his behavior ten fold as it is now....
Any suggestions please send them my way...