Alternative treatment helps children with autism

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – An alternative type of medical treatment is proving to be successful in helping children with autism. The technique, which combines homeopathy, chiropractic, Chinese and Western medicine, has helped some children so much that they've been removed from the autism spectrum.

Four-year-old Lake Laird is one of the those children. Lake suffers from eczema and severe allergies. On top of that, in January he was diagnosed as mildly autistic.

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"Our goal is for our child to be healthy and happy," said Lake's mother, Dana Laird. "As a parent, when you see your child struggling you will do anything to help them; any alternative therapy."

Lake is being treated with a unique treatment called the Nambudripad allergy elimination technique.      

"A lot of children with autism, they have a lot of food sensitivities. So if their autism is related to sensitivities and if we reverse the sensitivities, then the child gets better," said Patricia Lew, licensed acupuncturist and NAET practitioner.

Lew said children will see results in 10 to 100 treatments, depending on the severity of allergies.  For Lake, it only took a few treatments for his allergies to improve and his behavior to change. Results were so drastic, doctors removed him from the autism spectrum.

The key to NAET treatments is small glass vials that contain a small amount of allergens.

"I do acupressure on the back, then acupuncture or acupressure while they hold the allergen for 10 to 20 minutes. Then they have to avoid it (the allergen) for 25 hours," said Lew.

With small children, a technique is used that involves the parents receiving part of the treatment while holding onto the child. Although unusual, the technique is slowly gaining credibility among traditional doctors.

In 2005, a published study showed of 56 autistic children treated with NAET, 88 percent had their autism reversed.

"There's not really a medication that can take away autism," said osteopathic medicine Dr. Victoria Chang. "I think that people have a genetic predisposition to what they're exposed to in their environment, but definitely it's one of those things where I would say that they would benefit from it and you can see really drastic changes in their behavior."

Lake's mother admits she still doesn't understand how NAET works, but to her the results have been miraculous.

"When you find out about something like this, a diagnosis, you feel like the world has ended, and when you see something like this that helps and your child improve, you can't help but be so grateful," said Laird. "At the same time you want to shout it from the mountaintops, because if it's helping him, it's going to help someone else."

A double-blind, placebo-controlled global study is now underway to determine the effectiveness of NAET on autism spectrum disorder. The study will include a group of 1,500 autistic children.