Autism Spectrum Disorder
Whether your child has a diagnosis of autism, developmental delays, or traits similar to that of autism with no diagnosis, Flourish Bound Integrative Health is here to help your child be the best version of themselves. Before we dive into the approach I take to helping your child with autism spectrum disorder or developmental delays, let’s review a little background on autism spectrum disorder.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder caused by differences in the brain. Children with ASD may learn, interact, and communicate in ways that are different from other people. Symptoms of autism can vary in severity from child to child. Some children with ASD can be classified as advanced or gifted in language and educational concepts while others may be nonverbal and have difficulty with learning and communication. Common signs and symptoms include delays in language and social development, communication, and repetitive behaviors or interests.
As many of you are familiar, a diagnosis of ASD can be overwhelming. As a parent or caregiver, you may fear what the present and future holds for your child in terms of social interactions, developing friendships, communicating, or understanding expected behaviors in social settings such as school and extracurricular activities.
Conventional therapy aims to reduce the symptoms that interfere with the child’s quality of life and daily functioning. Often, autism spectrum disorder presents with several other neurological conditions like ADHD, OCD tendencies, anxiety, or behavioral/mood challenges. Conventional therapy aims to individualize symptom management as the severity of ASD varies with each child; however there are a lot of other areas of health and wellbeing that can be optimized in order to help your child succeed and function to their best capability.
Autism is a growing field of research, and there is SO much more potential to help your child in a natural and holistic way. Just as autism and developmental delays can vary with each individual child, therapy and interventions should be tailored to each child’s unique personality, biochemical makeup, environmental upbringing, and health history. Traditional therapy is an important part of your child’s healing process, however the conventional model focuses on symptom management instead of digging deeper into potential root causes of certain behaviors or delays that your child may be experiencing. In addition to uncovering the underlying triggers that your child could be experiencing it is also important to optimize nutrition and lifestyle so that your child can start living a more balanced life.
Helping families with a functional and integrative medicine approach allows me to not only address the child’s symptoms but also address compromised biochemical pathways to determine underlying mechanisms that could be contributing to these symptoms.
Despite these challenges, children with autism and developmental delays have exceptional insights and capabilities. It is important to educate and remind everyone involved in their care that your child is capable of reaching their specific goals and I strive to help your child thrive and reach their best potential whether or not they have a diagnosis.