An autistic boy playing with a truck while his mother watches

Autism is a brain function disorder resulting in impaired social interaction, difficulty with communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior.

These symptoms start before a child is three years old and affect four boys for every girl. It can be very severe, or present in milder forms of what is called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), such as Asperger's Syndrome.

Causes and Triggers

Autism can have many triggers and causes, and also has a genetic component.

Current research suggests that it is related to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia as well as hyperactivity, sharing in the causes and underlying biochemical changes.

The age that the trigger occurs, whether the person is male or female, genetics, and likely other unknown triggers can cause it to reflect anywhere along the CFS/ADHD/ASD spectrum.

In addition, just as there are many ways to blow a fuse, there are many possible triggers that can, given the proper genetics, result in autism.

Treatment for Autism

Because there are multiple biochemical changes occurring in autism, it can often be successfully treated using a number of different approaches (individually or in combination).

Sadly, autism treatment has fallen into the usual controversy that occurs when natural treatments are helpful and gain popularity. Your doctors, though well meaning, may recommend you avoid any natural treatments. Ignore these doctors. This simply reflects the brain-washing of physicians against any competition to our current monopoly of drug/surgical treatments.

  • Therapies & Advice

    • Family counseling

      Family counseling to help adapt to the situation and to help the child improve function is recommended.

    • Acupressure — NAET

      A remarkable new option is a special acupressure technique, called NAET, which eliminates sensitivities. After seeing a young autistic girl go from nonverbal to being a chatterbox with this treatment, we explored this further and found this was common. Our foundation then funded a study using NAET in autism.

      By the end of 1 year (100 simple treatments), 23 of the 30 autistic children in the treatment group were back in regular schools (as opposed to none of the 30 in the untreated control group). This study has been accepted for publication. For more information, and to find over 12,000 NAET practitioners worldwide, visit www.NAET.com.

More Information

  • NAET (acupressure technique for treating food allergies at www.NAET.com)

Contributor

Dr. Jacob Teitelbaum, MD

Jacob Teitelbaum, M.D. is a board certified internist and author of the popular free iPhone application “Cures A-Z,” which was ranked in the top 10 of all health/wellness downloads on iTunes.

Dr. Teitelbaum is the author of the perennial bestseller From Fatigued to Fantastic! (Avery Penguin), which has sold over half a million copies; Pain Free 1-2-3 (McGraw-Hill); Three Steps to Happiness: Healing Through Joy (Deva Press); the Beat Sugar Addiction Now! series (Fair Winds Press);  Real Cause, Real Cure (Rodale Press); The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution (Penguin/Avery); and his latest, The Complete Guide to Beating Sugar Addiction (Fair Winds Press, 2015).

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