How Homeopathy Works In Treating Autism Effectively?

2nd April is recognised as a World Autism Awareness Day internationally. Homeopathy medicines do not act merely on one organ but have a deeper action on the psycho-endocrinological-immunological axis. In this blog, we shall discuss how Homeopathy can help to improve the life of an Autistic child.
We have witnessed a lot of parents coming to us with a lot of hopes and because they don’t know what is there for Autism as a treatment protocol. Currently, in modern medicine, there is no medicine for Autism as such. There are only therapies and assessments which can be given to the children. But, we have seen that despite the therapies and the best of efforts taken by the therapist, the change in autistic children is very minimal and then the question which bothers the parents is that if there are no medicines then how we are going to treat Autism.
The answer to this lies in the simple fact that Homeopathy has a lot of medicines that cater to the improvement in the quality of life of autistic children. And, in the past decade, Dr. Shah has treated a good number of cases of Autism. Not only mild but some severely affected cases respond very well to homeopathy.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder. The neurodevelopmental disorder is when proper development of a child’s brain fails to occur. It is also known as a social-communicative disorder, where the patient is unable to interact socially and communication is severely hampered or affected.
So, what are the symptoms by which you can identify the disorder? They do not look quite different; they look like a normal child. The difference is in their speech, communication, behavior, learning, and the way they interact.

What Role can Homeopathy Play in the Management of Autism?

Homeopathic medicines mainly work on brain development and help to connect the child to the environment.

Regulates Hyperactivity:

One of the problems of an autistic child is that the child is very hyperactive. So, if the child goes for therapies, the child is not going to sit. So, how the therapist is going to work on the child? When the homeopathic medicines are given to the child, the child becomes less hyperactive, he/she turns calm and can improve focus on therapies so the benefit is dual. The therapist can correctly give the therapy, whereas the child is also calm in a natural way.
We are not giving any medicines which are CNS depressants. For instance, the first drug given in the conventional line of treatment Risperidone which has its side-effects. When homeopathic medicines are given properly, they provide a lot of benefits, and they are completely safe without any side-effects.

Improves Speech Development in Autistic Children:
One of the major challenges which an autistic child may face is the lack of speech development. If it is detected in time, many positive things can be done. There are treatment therapies, and many children can benefit from it. Some researchers state that early intervention can help in Autism cases. The biggest problem is the detection of Autism and delayed speech development. In some cases, where the delayed speech is ignored, it is taken for granted saying that, in their family, the child’s father, uncle achieved the speech at age of four years or three years of age, so the child will also develop speech late. That’s why parents are confused and assume that their child’s speech is delayed due to such reasons. Thus, the important diagnostic symptom of Autism – delayed speech development – is ignored.
We have observed that certain children, who have developed speech, when growing up at the age of one and a half years of age to two years of age, start regressing. The speech which is developed deteriorates, and, at one point, the child becomes completely non-verbal. Fortunately, we have also observed that, with Homeopathic medicines selected on complete totality, these children not only improve their cognitive skills but also enhance their comprehending ability. And, when the comprehending ability is improved, the speech starts developing. The speech develops in simple steps – the first child will start babbling, starts speaking two words, a few words, and then frame small simple sentences. Developing speech is a complex mechanism, but we have observed that, when we give the right homeopathic medicines, the speech is developed in autistic kids Homeopathy helps in the processing mechanism of observing, understanding in a better way, and speaking well in autistic kids significantly.

There is an improvement in the level of physical generals. The abnormal sleep pattern is corrected and sleep pattern improves. The appetite of the child improves as well as the bowel habits improve.
The eye contact improves, and the attention span and ability increases. The child can focus in a better way.
Homeopathy helps in improving the fine motor skills of the child.
There is a reduction in the child’s abnormal behavior, such as temper tantrums, hyperactivity, restlessness, violence, screaming, self-harming, and aggression.
Repeated body movements, such as rocking and hand-flapping, reduce.
The child starts playing with other peers and siblings and starts sharing his/her toys with other kids.
The child starts to eat like a normal child and asks when he desires something. The child, who had to be fed before, after long-term Homeopathic treatment, the same child starts to eat on his own.
The child starts to mention his needs, use the restroom or toilet, and other basic activities, which may be absent before.
The child no more throws food or things when offered.
Stubbornness and anger reduce.
Due to increased sensitivity, abnormal responses reduce. The fear of sound, darkness, and crowd gets reduced considerably.
In some cases, the child starts to write with the therapist’s and parents’ help. Thus, the ability which was completely absent before develops.
The autistic child can be educated with an integrated approach, which comprises Homeopathic medicines along with applied behavior analysis, speech therapy, counseling, and child can be shifted from special school to the mainstream school.

The improvement depends on the grade of Autism, which ranges from mild, moderate, and severe. Also, genetic disorders influence the outcome. Homeopathic treatment aims to make the child more productive, creative, improve the quality of life a child, make the child more independent, and to bring the best out of the child. The recovery differs from child to child and depends on the age and since when the Homeopathy was introduced.
The integrated approach that is Homeopathy along with speech therapy, behavior therapy, counseling, applied behavioral analysis, Social skills classes, and also by following the proper Gluten-free/Casein-free diet bring significant positive changes in an autistic child.
Written by Dr. Mithila Kargar, Associate doctor to Dr. Rajesh Shah, MD (Hom)