It’s an overwhelming Professional satisfaction, when I see
the happiness in the faces of the special childrens’ parents, treated by us.
We have witnessed a surge of Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) patients,
few years ago, in our Neuro Special - Integrative Medicine Centre, while I was
working in Chennai. The reason is, the awareness of the public that ASD is one
area where the Integrative medicine, particularly Naturopathic and Ayurvedic
Medicines comes into help against it’s counterparts. The lenses with which
these two systems of medicine view health and well-being, enable all of the *problems
of this condition to be addressed effectively.
After we opened Kerala Naturopathy Clinic in Kumbakonam, We
got Master. M, from Mothilal Street, Kumbakonam, aged 6 yrs for Autism
treatment.
His mother is an engineer, speaking to me in anguish that
her son was absolutely fine till he is 2 yrs old, passed the milestones as a
normal child (in fact, he could able to speak better than his age group
children) At that period, he had to undergo for second shot of ^MMR Vaccine.
Few months later, she has noticed that there is some problem with his communication,
eye contact and attention. The alarmed mother made her way straight to a well
known famous hospital in Vellore. After the assessment and investigations, the
child was diagnosed as ‘Autism Disorder’.
When she brought his son, Master. M, to us at 6 yrs old, he
was hyperactive with stereotypic movements, hardly speaks a word, impulsive,
not listening and maintaining eye contact, hyper sensitivity to sound,
increasing in weight (37 kgs!), chronic constipation and phlegm disorders.
The greatest challenge of the parents of special children is
to find a suitable school to take care of them in every aspects. I knew the parents,
who relocated, by sacrificing the comfort of their native place and job for
this single reason. Master. H’s mother (since father is working in abroad) also
faced the same problem, when the school management (a CBSC school in Kumbakonam
nearby her residence), where Master H studied LKG, asked her to look for an
another school, as he is not fitting into their schooling atmosphere. On
search, she find a matriculation school, which accommodates special children,
where he pursued his UKG. That is when, they came for the treatment in Kerala
Naturopathy Clinic.
The management of the ASD is a long term treatment plan to
address all the symptoms of the individual
child by appropriatively applying
various modalities of the Integrative medicine, as there is no miraculous
remedy, scientifically. No system of
medicine is inferior to other, when it comes to deal with ASD. For Master. H,
we have prescribed an initial three months treatment plan. Each month have a
two weeks sitting of active therapy. The therapy includes Ayurvedic measures
like Abhyangam, pouring of warm medicated oil
/ herbal mixture to the forehead (Dhara), rubbing of entire body with a
bolus made up of medicinal grains boiled in herbal milk decoction, Thala
pothichil, Thalam and Acupressure. He
was brought under a specific Diet plan, Yoga exercises, Breathing Techniques,
Lifestyle modification and supplementation in this three months program.
When we reached to the second sitting, we started noticing
gradual improvement in the various aspects of his co-morbidities. He started
listening to our instructions and following it. He started copying others.
During Yoga practices, we found his concentration, balance and endurance in
maintaining a pose is substantially improved. His stereotypic movements started
decreasing and started expressing his
needs to the family. We came across an emotional moment during this course of
therapy – He called his mum, ‘Amma’, for the first time after the onset of this
disorder. While the mother sharing this moment with us, she was in tears,
literally!
Greatest achievement of our therapy program given to
Master.H, at Kerala Naturopathy Clinic, Mothilal Street, Kumbakonam is, in this
school year, he was readmitted to the same school (Regular CBSC School) for 1st
standard, where he was discontinued one year before as he was not fit to be.
Anyway, it is not the end. Mater. H, has to continue our
program till we reach our target to bring him back to a normal independent
life.
*Anxiety, attention deficit, distractibility, hyperactivity,
impulsivity, rhythmic rocking, repetitive acts or thoughts, abnormal eye
movement, doesn’t play peek-a-boo, highly gifted, apparent lack of awareness to
danger, language and communication problems, seems uninterested in people,
unresponsive to verbal cues, allergies, poor appetite, low immunity/frequent
colds, heavy metal toxicity and hypersensitivity to
sound/light/touch/smell/toxins. Please note that if your child exhibits some or
many of these, does not mean they have autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Appropriate work-up must be done by a trained and certified neuropsychiatrist.
^Mentioning of Vaccine not intended to establish the connection between Vaccination and Autism. While consultation, the mother of the child was specific about this note.
