THE BOND THAT COMES FROM AUTISM

- Renee Zwicker, Contributing Writer

April is Autism Awareness Month

Renee Zwicker has worked with Autistic children and their parents for years. These experiences have brought her a great deal of insight into the much-discussed condition and it's various treatments. While she is not a doctor, she shares with us her account of how the simplest of all remedies - bonding between parents and children - may be the most powerful of all.

I have had the amazing opportunity to work with children on the Autism Spectrum for over five years. In my experiences I have seen first hand the effects of many different forms of treatments. Although I am not a physician, from my own personal experience, I feel that the more exciting and innovative forms of treatment have been those that steer away from pharmaceuticals and emphasize a more natural and client-based approach.

Clinicians are now approaching Autism as a disorder in which parents are included and capable of playing a role in choosing what they feel is best for their child. Parents are becoming empowered to learn as much as possible about Autism and the many treatments available to them. The truth is that what might work for one child may not for another, so it is important that parents take an active role in advocating for their children. This may mean that parents cannot necessarily rely on a quick source of treatment for their child, but taking an invested interest in learning who their child is despite the communication, emotional and behavioral obstacles that come with Autism.

I worked as a floortime therapist for the better half of a decade.  This therapy entials teaching parents to interact with their children in a playlike manner. "Play" so simple and yet when used as a source of interaction with a child, it becomes crucial to a child's development. Teaching parents to engage with their children at the child's level and opening ciricles of communication in a non-clinical setting, parents are able to play an active role in their child's recovery.

Another treatment that seems so simple and yet has served as a source of improvement for populations of Autistic Children are based on strict organic nutritional diets. Gluten and Casein free diets have been reported to show improvements in as little as a few hours! Also, removing any chemicals or added substances from children's food (such as corn syrup, hormones, insecticides and antibiotics) has been shown to help make a difference as well.

When parents realize that their relationship with their child is as important as a multimillionaire pharmaceutical company's promise, then recovery from Autism truly has a fighting chance. In my experience working with Autism, I can truly say that the most inspirational and profound moments I have encountered have been those that happened when the diagnostics, treatments, medicines and autistic traits were left behind, and an Autistic child simply sat in their parent's lap and played. Simply that. For when a child looks into his parents' eyes and smiles for the first time in years, it's clear that the true "cure" lies within the bond between parent and child.