April is Autism Awareness Month and as a mother of three boys and as a holistic health practitioner, I wanted to share with you some thoughts about autism.
How big a problem is autism?
The latest statistics to come out of the CDC ( Center for Disease Control) are certainly very scary and troubling. 1 in 54 boys is now diagnosed with autism and 1 in 88 children are diagnosed autistic.
When I started my Holistic Health practice over a decade ago, those numbers were 1 in 120 children. When I was a child, they were 1 in 1000. Why?
Reasons for Increase in Autism…
In the last two decades, autism prevalence as reported in the scientific literature has increased by more than 600%.
Some of the reasons given for the dramatic increase are better reporting, better diagnostic tests meaning that more cases are picked up and advanced ages in parents. However, I don’t think this can possibly account for the totality of this dramatic increase.
Possible Causes of Autism….
Perhaps we could account for this increase by examining the possible causes of autism. Andrew Wakefield produced a very controversial research study in 1998 that suggested there was a vaccine-autism link. This study has been shown to be “flawed” by the traditional medical community. So if vaccines are not a contributing factor, then what is?
Science believes there is a strong genetic link and it has been found that if you have one autistic child, then you have a 1 in 20 chance of having a second autistic child.
The other link that is very believable to me as a homeopath, is the link between pesticides and autism.
We live on a much more toxic planet than we did 50 years ago. Since 1930, more than 75,000 synthetic chemicals have been introduced into our environment. Mothers are carrying babies with high levels of toxicity in their cells and on-going environmental exposure.
It has been shown that certain pesticides may interfere with genes involved with our central nervous system.
In total, scientists have identified about 20 genes that may be involved in autism spectrum disorder. Many have a role in brain development, brain growth and the way brain cells communicate.
How can Holistic Health assist children with Autism?
Holistic health can be invaluable in helping families dealing with autism through the use of special diets and therapies that can help to reduce physical, emotional and spiritual stress. And often the parents of autistic children benefit from therapies and nutritional help too. Holistic health does not look at any one situation in isolation. Frequently we find ourselves helping the whole family not just the person who came for help. A holistic health program incorporates the emotional and spiritual aspect of health and healing. This can be very helpful to families.
What I have observed as a practitioner is that a program that includes specific nutrients, special support for the digestive system, complex homeopathy and quantum biofeedback therapy for stress reduction is hugely helpful for autistic children.
Take a look at this video by Julie Matthews, a Nutrition Counselor who specializes in Autism Nutrition –
If you want further information, please contact me directly.
Be blessed,
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Happy St Valentine’s Day to you! Today is the day when loved ones all over the world will eat lots of chocolate and share champagne in celebration of their love!
‘ The more nourishment you give to a person who has not been purged, the more harm you do.’ Hippocrates.





