Comparing Medical Interventions vs Holistic Approach
What are the most effective Autism treatments available?
The answer to that question by Autism Science Foundation would be Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), physical therapy and pharmacological treatments.
Speech Therapy will deal with the aspects of building and teaching communication skills through language development by Speech Pathologists, family members, teachers, peers and any occasion they are exposed to interaction. Some ASD individuals are Non-Verbal and they sometimes show extreme reluctance to speech and in such cases medical intervention is teaching them sign language, written communication, drawing pictures etc.
ABA deals with systems that encourage good behaviour and by that the child is encouraged to behaviour positively. It has sub categories like Early Intensive Behaviour Intervention (EIBI), Pivotal Response Training (PRT), Discrete Trial Training (DTT), Lovaas Model, Early start Denver Model etc.
EIBI is a very early intervention type of ABA which works with children aged 3 or below.
PRT on the other hand works on increasing a child’s motivation to learn new skills such as play, study, social etc.
DTT is a common form of ABA which works by teaching an intended task by breaking it down in smaller tasks that makes it easier on the kids. In this method prompts and reward are employed to encourage the child to work on learning the skills.
Physical Therapy (PT) is there to improve Gross Motor Skills such as walking, running, throwing, kicking etc. PT also helps in walking, coordination, balance as well as handling sensory integration issues. It is most effective in early intervention.
Occupational Therapy (OT) works on encouraging the child to learn skills like tying shoes, wearing dress, using utensils, cutting with scissors, open a bottle cap, brushing etc. everyday activities that is essential for independence. It also deals with improving sensory integration issues.
Pharmacological Treatment helps individuals to suppress symptoms of irritability, aggression and self-injury as well as interfering with disruptive behaviors and this need to be medically monitored under a very qualified physician.
In my opinion it is evident that for an autism individual will need at least 4/5 of these intervention which is financially, emotionally, mentally, taxing and time constraints is very high as well. The child needs to learn all these from scratch unlike other neuroatypical children who learned on their own. Very few countries have proper centers and systems to help families with resources and sponsorships. Learning all these and watching thousands of mothers rant online I was overwhelmed and had a strong belief there is a better way. A more simpler and easier way. That is to find the Root Cause of ASD and Neurological disorders. Given my research skills I emerged myself and first divulged into alternative therapies.
What I discovered blew my mind away!
I implemented my findings in guidance of an alternative health practitioner and without these costly, time guzzling, gut wrenching treatments pushed on the already taxed ASD boy, I saw him galloping towards his milestones. Alhamdulillah!! I am here to share all that and much more. Let’s give you a small run down on what Alternatives therapies and module can be.
Alternative-Holistic Approach
Includes Ayurveda, Natural Nutritional Treatments such as Gut And Psychology Syndrome (GAPS) diet, holistic lifestyle implications etc.
Ayurveda, as I described in my previous post believes that ASD is a vata-kapha dosha disorder which translates into excess toxin buildup that disrupts normal brain function and in turn produces all the symptoms. It starts in the gut!! Improper digestion by an already weak digestive system creates wastes that transcribed in to various expressions. So once the digestion is geared up and the gut healed the nutrients will now be reached to the brain for proper functions. This can be cooking in a way to increase digestion, taking herbs and spices to increase the digestive ability, also proper evacuation of waste is a very important pillar.
Natural Nutritional Treatments (GAPS) also believes the single most important factor to be Gut Health via proper digestion and evacuation. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride is the proposer of this system for not just ASD but ADHD, Dyslexia, Depression, Schizophrenia, ADD, Dyspraxia etc. In simple term the diet states to avoid food components that are hard to digest and inflammatory in natures such as Starch, high carb containing grains such as wheat, rice, etc., dairy except Ghee, (sometimes butter), peanuts, processed food, fake foods, fried foods etc.
A lot of parents already avoid gluten and sometimes dairy but not get very fast results. A major reason is that they don’t stop starches initially like flour based foods, rice, potato, sweet potato etc. Once you stop these the digestion power is released and more power is made available to digest easier food and produce proper absorbable nutrition. Holding hand to this is the proper evacuation to make sure the waste is cleaned effectively.
Holistic Healthy Lifestyles includes sleep scheduling, nourishing and nurturing environment, avoiding chemicals, dust, allergens, plastic etc. Avoiding screen time or reducing, nature walks etc. Body Massage before bed time, probiotics, drinking lots of fluids, sensory play etc. all are part of the holistic lifestyle treatments.
I have given a very brief outlook into both the systems and as you can see clearly the available medical treatments are like a Band-Aid not a solution from the cause which is sustainable and doable without all the stress on finance, emotion, mental health.
Feel free to join my IG and FB pages for simple doable actions that you can start implementing Right NOW! I request to be open-hearted and try them and let me how they go.
Up Next: An Open Letter To the Parents of Autism Child
