Massage has been my life for the past two years and I realize now that touch has always been an important aspect of my life. I find myself wanting to spread it to everyone, trying to change their lives. It is beautiful to me when someone realizes how important safe, non-sexual touch is to the human race. It is essential to our survival and perpetuation. Mental health issues haves surrounded me my entire life and it was not I started massage school did I make a connection. I am an avid believer that massage can help individuals suffering from mental and emotional afflictions. Almost every culture around the world has some sort of massage incorporated into the medicinal history. Chinese and Japanese medicine, Thai, Tibetan, Ayruvedic, African, South American, and our Western world all have massage roots, roots of compassionate touch. There is one mental, emotional, and social affliction is very misunderstood, as well as passed over. Autism is a critical issue to understand and massage may be the answer to many individuals’ problems.
Autism has been on the rise for the past fifteen years in America and awareness is growing of the causes, symptoms, and treatments for this Pervasive Developmental Disorder. The disorder has certain criteria to be met that can be found in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manuel of Mental Disorders – IV. Children who have delayed speech, communication, and social interaction before the age of three, as well as repetitive, obsessive behaviors usually fall into the category of autistic (American Psychiatric Association, 1994). The treatments that have been studied in recent years focus mainly around pharmaceuticals yet, no long term prescription safe enough has been found to improve quality of life (Silva, 2005). In the past few years use of alternative therapies has increased, especially in America. There are now institutes dedicated to studying alternative therapies, the leader being the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Americans spent $21.2 million dollars on CAM between the years of 1990 and 1997; by 2001, the expenditure was estimated at $90 million (Hansen, 2007). There are many reasons as to why this trend may be happening. Many pharmaceuticals have complications that cause patients to take other prescriptions to ease the side effects of the first. Many adverse effects of antipsychotics include “sedation, dizziness, increased appetite, weight gain, changes in electrocardiogram parameters, drooling, hyperprolactinemia and a risk of drug-related dyskinesias” (Malone, 2005). Many medications are used to treat problems associated with autism. More than half of U.S. children diagnosed with autism are prescribed psychoactive drugs or anticonvulsants, with the most common drug classes being antidepressants, stimulants, and antipsychotics (Oswald 349). Aside from antipsychotics, there is little reliable research about the effectiveness or safety of drug treatments for adolescents and adults with autism. A person with autism may respond poorly to medications, the medications can have horrible side effects, and no known medication relieves autism's core symptoms of social and communication dysfunction. People are also looking for less insidious, more nurturing and natural care (Hansen, 2007). CAM modalities offer people a holistic view of individuals as well as a scientific approach. Massage therapy envelopes a wide scope of practices that have been used around the world for over 5,000 years (Tappan, 2006). Many cultures and countries use massage for general health issues and prevention. Through study of massage and touch therapy, the quality of living can be made greater for individuals with autism. Massage therapy can be used to alleviate individuals living with distressing disorders. People in America and around the world are using massage alongside physical therapy, as well as for relaxation and overall health. Many conventional doctors are adding things such as Chinese medicine, massage, and herbal remedies to their scope of practice. Michael Regina-Whiteley is a licensed massage therapist who offers care to individuals of special needs. Because children and adults with autism have tactile defensive behaviors, helping them deal with touch is what massage intends to do. Volume 5, Issue 02, of Massage Today was printed in 2005, where Whiteley offered evidence of work done with autistic clients. Whitetely’s first client was a twenty-one year old male living in a group home with a diagnosis of mental retardation, autism, and cerebral palsy. He would not hug his parents and it was difficult for staff to help him bathe. The main goal of the treatment was to target the lack of verbal skills and hypersensitivity to tactile stimulation. The sessions began with the therapists hand on the clients shoulder. The amount of time that the client allowed the therapist to touch grew from 3-5 seconds to 32-35 minutes of deep pressure massage over the course of six months. “Direct care staff report that his daily living, specifically bathing and dressing skills have improved because he began to except hand over hand assistance” (Whitetley, 2005). Massage results are not instant and results take patience. The other clients that Whitetely continues to work with improve much like this young man. As mentioned earlier, Chinese medicine is being integrated into conventional, traditional medicine. A medical Qigong massage protocol was developed by Dr. Anita Cignolini in 2002 for children with autism. A study was set up in Europe of eight children under the age of six with uncomplicated autism to receive Qigong medical massage for five weeks, two times a week. The parents of the children also massaged everyday at home. Once the five weeks was over, the parents continued with daily massage for four more weeks. Most of the children had sensory distortions with a few of them suffering from chronic diarrhea and sleep disturbances (Silva, 2005). Two rating scales were used to evaluate the children’s autistic severity: the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). The CARS test evaluated children in three categories of Not Autistic, Mildly/moderately autistic, or Severely autistic; the ABC’s categories being Not autistic, Borderline, and High probability for autism (Silva, 2005). There were language skills tests as well as that were used to determine how far along many of the children were. By the end of the nine weeks the results showed that all eight children scored lower on their ABC and CARS evaluations, meaning autistic tendencies were lessening. Parents remarked that all the children improved, if only slightly. For some of the children, their language skills, motor skills, and social skills improved greatly. “A sudden improvement in language, social and motor development is not a common characteristic of the natural history of autism, and the positive response shown by all children is therefore promising” (Silva, 2005). This was a small study that did not have a control group for comparison, which is one of the issues that come along with CAM. Conventional medicine uses double-blind studies and placebos to test pharmaceuticals, but with natural alternatives, things get difficult to measure. Massage can be a part of every human’s life and anyone can take advantage of this healthy alternative. Autism is a life-long disorder that needs constant care and attention. Medications are not helping in the long term and more people are going to be moving to alternatives in the next few years. Qigong medical massage is only one of the many massage approaches out there for healthy individuals as well as autistic. People can benefit greatly just by being touched in a safe and nurturing way. There are other alternatives that many autistic children and families are choosing to participate in. Many things have not been studied by medical institutions and parents are giving their children very controversial and experimental treatments. However, there have been advancements made in medical studies that show promising results for autisitic individuals. A very popular diet this special population has been the the Gluten Free and Casein Free Diet or GFCF. The theory that many scientist have come up with is that gluten is broken down in the intestines and several by-products are left behind, including gluteomorphine. Testing for this can be done through the urine and it has showed that these by-products are more common in the urine of autistic children. This can be a huge problem, especially because many people with autism also suffer from "leaky gut." Leaky gut means that one's gastrointestinal tract is permeable and things can leak out into the blood stream (Edelson 1). The thinking behind the Gluten and Casein Free Diet is that these cannot be broken down by the intestines of autistic individuals and could be causing some of the behaviors they exihibit. Taking them out of the diet could have dramatic effects on behavior. A study was conducted over a four year period to show the efficacy of the GFCF diet. Karl Reichelt, MD, PhD and A. M. Knivsberg PhD of the Institute of Pediatric Research, Univ. of Oslo, Rikshospitalet,Oslo, Norway were the physicians conducting this research. A double blind study was impossible being that people know what they eat. The testing that was done on the autistic individuals to show progression or regression was social isolation, bizarre behavior, the Illinois test of psycholinguistic ability, and Ravens Progressive Matrices. There were two groups who were tested at one year and four years on the diet. Three children in the first group quit the diet because of personal, life reasons and showed a clear-cut regression, making a control for the team without meaning to (Reichelt 4). The results of this diet were quite amazing over the four year period. The second group who stayed on the diet improved with decrease in autistic behavior, increase in non-verbal cognitive level and decrease in motor problems (Reichelt 5). Another great, non-invasive treatment is the use of vitamin B-6 in the treatment of autism. There have been studies over the past several years as to the vitamin supplements that can alter the behavior of some autistic individuals. Dr. Bernard Rimland PhD of the Autism Research Institute has been investigating this method since the mid sixties and discovered, through experimentation, that vitamin B6 was the most important of the vitamins to autistic individuals. Between 30-40 percent of the children he was using in the experiment showed improvement in their behavior with some showing minor side effects. These effects (sensitivity to sound, irritability, and wetting the bed) were cleared up when the children were given magnesium along with the B6 (Rimland 1). A few years after this experiment, Rimland and his colleagues developed another study. This was to be a double blind study using 16 autistic children and the results were extremely promising. "There was better eye contact, less self-stimulatory behavior, more interest in the world around them, fewer tantrums, and more speech," although there was no one child that was what we call medically "cured" (Rimland 2). There have also been many singular stories of B6 helping individuals; anectdotal evidence can truly be a viable resource for scientists and doctors. Sometimes, one person's story can change the world. As this evidence comes to a close, review the many alternatives placed forth in the treatment of autism. This Pervasive Developmental Disorder is very prevelant in the world and much is yet to be understood. Scientists know that there is great intelligence behind autistic individuals but something keeps it from shining through to the surface. The most common way to treat this condition for years was medications such as antipsychotics when these children with autism are not "psychotic." There is much evidence being produced to show the efficacy of Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Massage therapy, vitamin therapy, as well as nutritional therapy can all be time consuming yet they are non-invasive, nurturing ways to approach autism. It is time that we begin to truly understand the beautiful individuals with this disorder and help them in a holistic, realistic manner. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "CulturalandTraditionalHealthandHealing" group. To post to this group, send email to culturalandtraditionalhealthandhealing@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.ca/group/culturalandtraditionalhealthandhealing?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
