By Sarah Simons, mother of 7

In September of this year, our family participated for the first time in the “Autism Speaks Walk” to raise awareness and money for autism research. There were many representatives from groups and companies offering support, services and products to address the special needs that children with autism may have.  As we walked through the exhibits, we saw gluten-free cookies, adaptive toys, t-shirts with affirming messages, and LOTS of chiropractors.

Autistic kids sometimes have problems with balancing and we saw a drawing showed a balancing board amd were drawn in by it. Vendors always have incentives to stop at their booths and this one was a for a dawing to receive this balancing board and some other sensory toys important to kids with this special need.  We liked it and stopped long enough to fill out a card. The chiropractor struck up a conversation with us while my son, Garret, was rocking on the board. I didn’t know much about chiropractic care other than knowing of family members who have gone for “adjustments.” They have shared how much of a difference it made for them.

 Though I am pretty conventional when it comes to medicine, the way that Dr. Tye spoke about spinal health and neural connections did not seem to be a great departure from how I have understood the central and peripheral nervous systems of the body. What he said made sense, that we are day by day, even moment by moment, moving either toward better health and wellness(getting stronger) or away from it(getting weaker). Much of this depends on the connection between our brains and our bodies.

As a result of the conversation, we signed up for an initial consultation. I thought about cancelling—considering our busy schedule, some skepticism, and a reluctance to make a guinea pig out of my boy. But then I also thought about what we have done to rule out things like gluten sensitivity or candida and decided it was time to be more proactive and try this kind of therapy. c. All natural, no side effects, fairly convenient location, and a provider that seemed genuinely interested in the welfare of our son were strong reasons to go ahead.

Chiropractic care for our son with autism has been no less than remarkable.  He attends first grade at a typical school and experienced daily struggles with maintaining appropriate behavior. They use a color card system to communicate to students and parents regarding behavior: green is appropriate, yellow and orange are intermediate steps of warnings and correction, and red is unacceptable behavior. Even with accommodations and breaks, Garret rarely had a day when he “stayed on green”. Since he started chiropractic, he has “stayed on green” for all but two days. Nothing else has changed, so we are led to believe that this turnarouond is a result of chiropractic adjustments. The office visits take less than 20 minutes, Dr Tye often offers materials and suggestions for other ways to enhance health and wellness, and Garret absolutely loves to go. He seems to be making gains in other areas and we are so encouraged by what we see developing in him.

We are still new at this, and would like to hear what other parents have experienced with chiropractic or other alternative therapies.

Please join the discussion below.

1. What have you tried to manage autism?
2. What keeps you from trying something new?
3. What motivates you to try something new?
4. What results (if any) have you experienced? 

This entry was posted on Friday, January 1st, 2010 at 12:41 pm and is filed under Community Board. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.