New Autism Cure - breakthrough treatments and cures for autism

Taking a child to the cinema is something that most parents take for granted. OK, so you might have fidgeting, excited chatting or even crying (if the film is a bit scary or sad), but generally taking kids to the movies is a breeze. But it’s not so easy if you’re the parent of a sensory sensitive child.

The Problem

The whole movie experience can be completely overwhelming for a sensory sensitive child - just think of the things that they have to face:-

• The theater suddenly becoming dark
• Sudden loud noises which are amplified by surround sound systems
• Fast moving images on a huge screen
• Lots of people in a confined space

All this can be just too much for the child and can result in tears, tantrums and fear. However, all is not lost and it is now possible for children who are sensory sensitive to enjoy the same movies that their peers are enjoying and talking about.

How?

The Solution

AMC Entertainment has collaborated with the Autism Society of America (ASA) to give children with special needs, and their families, the chance to see top movies through their “Sensory Friendly Films Program”.

The “Sensory Friendly Films Program” means that once a month, participating theaters all over the USA will do special showings of a top film in a “safe and accepting environment”. Features of these special showings include:-

• Film soundtrack turned down
• Theater lights brought up
• No previews or trailers before the movie
• Parents and carers can bring their own snack food - so children can enjoy GFCF snacks
• AMC’s usual silence policy will not be enforced - Children and adults will be free to talk, dance, sing, get up out of their seats and stretch their legs etc. without worrying about being a distraction to others.

This month’s movie is “Hannah Montana: The Movie” and it will be showing at participating theaters on April 18th at 10am local time. Click here to find your local participating theater and to get more details. Enjoy the movie!

Although Horse Therapy, or Equine Facilitated Learning (EFL), is not a DAN! protocol biomedical treatment, it’s something that I feel can be of real benefit to autistic children.

Just this week, I saw a post on an autism forum from one parent whose son was really benefiting from this type of therapy, so I asked her more about it and what it involved. She explained to me about how everything was done in small steps:-

1. Child introduced to the trainer and taken around the stables to see the horses and other animals, like chickens.
2. Child offered the chance to touch the animals or touch the straw bedding if touching the animals was too much for him. The child even got to look at the horse poo and to sniff it! The parent remarked how good this was for desensitizing the child.
3. Sitting on the horse - The final step was the parent lifting her son onto the horse. The trainer sat behind the child and the horse was surrounded by the child’s mother and three helpers, so the child felt completely secure.

In just 5 months, this sensory sensitive child is now able to ride the horse alone, with the help of a special harness and the trainer and a helper walking alongside. Wow!

The parent felt that this therapy was extremely beneficial to her son because the horse had a calming effect on him and he would often come out of himself during these sessions. She is combining the EFL therapy with biomedical treatment.

The Theory Behind EFL

Franklin Levinson, who has taken EFL and the work of the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association over to the UK, says:-

“It’s been clinically proven that just being in the vicinity of horses changes our brainwave patterns…They have a calming effect…giving them [the rider] a really positive experience.”

and the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association say that EFL:-

“encourages personal explorations of feelings and behaviors to help promote human growth and development.”

The idea behind EFL is that the child builds a partnership with the horse. A horse is always on the lookout for a leader and, by being calm and peaceful, a child can become the horse’s leader and so manage and command the horse. This type of therapy has been shown to be beneficial for children with autism, bipolar disorders and ADD, helping to calm them and making them more communicative. Being able to control a horse, and seeing it obey commands, also gives the child’s self-esteem a real boost.

It sounds to me that this type of therapy could be a great addition to a program of biomedical treatments. You can find out more at http://www.narha.org/ and read an article on it at http://www.wayofthehorse.org/Articles/horse-therapy.html.