While we don’t yet have a cure for autism, we do have medications and health care programs in place to help the symptoms associated with autism. The medical industry is just starting to take notice of how homeopathy can help the symptoms of autism. Talk to your doctor before taking or doing anything not directly prescribed. Meanwhile, consider these homeopathic options in treating the symptoms of autism.

Before any suggestions for new or changed treatment are made, the Homeopath will first examine the autistic person to analyze many variables, among them behavior and eating patterns.

One homeopathic remedy is a change in diet. There is some speculation that certain dietary foods, such as wheat, can trigger a symptom of autism. Other dietary factors, such as food coloring, preservatives, hormones and vitamin increase or decrease, have been considered to be causes of symptoms as well.

In addition to diet, another homeopathic treatment used for symptoms of autism are speech, animal, art and music therapy. There is no scientific evidence to support whether any of these forms of homeopathic treatment will help someone who is autistic. However, the stories of actual autistic people showing progress and signs of recovery from the use of these forms of therapy speak for themselves.

For example, various studies have been conducted on autistic children who had gluten and casein removed from their diets. The doctors and parents were amazed at the results of this modified diet: The children started to show improved speech, better behavior and improved bowel functions. The casein diet, otherwise known as the GFCF diet, excludes foods containing casein, a protein found in milk, dairy products, whey, and some forms of margarine. Another diet that has helped autistic people is the dairy/gluten-free and low Salicylate diet.

As for speech therapy, the results have been mixed. Some people with autism have improved their speech and communication skills thanks to speech therapy, while some have not. Speech and language pathologists are constantly working to assist their autistic patients and ongoing research and studies are being done to find specific methods for speech therapy to be helpful to the autistic patients.

Animal therapy has, by far, shown many times to help autistic people improve in their symptoms. The socializing with an animal that is trained to work with special-needs patients helps improve those poor socializing skills. It may even improve the person’s communication skills, as they interact with the service animal. The service animal is usually a dog, but horses have also been known to act as therapy animals for autistic patients. Various stories of autistic patients thriving thanks to animal therapy can commonly be found on the Internet and in print media. One such facility that offers animal therapy to special-needs patients is the Ride On Therapeutic Riding Center in California.

Art therapy has also proven to be a great homeopathic treatment for helping people who have autism. In one example, a young girl diagnosed with autism while a toddler was introduced to art therapy. She later became a famous artist, with her work being featured at national shows. One young man was diagnosed with autism when he was 3. He refused to speak. That changed after he began art therapy; he started talking when he was 9 years old and today his work has been featured in many art shows. The Society of Artists for Autism is a nonprofit organization and grassroots advocacy center promoting the message of how art benefits those who have autism.

Music therapy has been proven to improve both verbal and nonverbal communication in people who have autism. Since there is no pressure to participate and creativity is encouraged, the autistic person may eventually feel comfortable enough to start singing along with simple songs or mimic musical movements.

While most parents and doctors can quibble about and over analyze the different kinds of homeopathic therapies available to autistic people today, there are several popular and not-so-popular autistic people who have benefited from homeopathic treatment. It’s not the cure-all for autism, but it has definitely proven itself to be one surefire method in treating autism symptoms.