Acupuncture and Autism

Studies have shown that there is an increase in the number of children who have been diagnosed with autism. Until now, doctors have not yet found a cure for this disease is that some parents want to experiment with alternative forms of treatment and an example is acupuncture.


Acupuncture is a holistic approach in treating and preventing certain diseases. Its main tool are very thin needles are inserted at specific points in the body. The body has 400 of them linked through a system known as meridians or channels. Once these are stimulated, these are supposed to strike a balance in the body.

Instead Autism is a brain disorder that is long term. This disease is characterized by deficits in language, social communication and cognition. Children who are diagnosed with this disease may also suffer from secondary problems such as aggression, irritability, stereotypes, hyperactivity, negativism, volatile emotions, temper tantrums, short attention span and obsessive-compulsive behavior.

Preliminary studies have shown that acupuncture may provide symptomatic relief to children suffering from autism. Although difficult at first, is believed to be rewarding in the long term. This is because while conventional therapy and treatment requires the child to stay still, acupuncture is not. Some say it's a quick jab to the body's vital points.

A group of children in the U.S. participated in a test for the effectiveness of acupuncture is one of the children. There are 22 participants and each was given the treatment once every two days for four months.

After treatment 20 of the 22 respondents showed a remarkable improvement. In fact two of them has cerebral blood flow. The only thing not changed before and after treatment was the flow of blood between the left and right brain, and showed no differences.

In addition to traditional acupuncture to help children with autism, a preliminary study in Hong Kong is trying to see if tongue acupuncture can produce better results.

The results showed that 30 respondents in the test, majority showed functional improvement of various degrees depending on age and severity of their disabilities. Some improvement was noticeable within a few TAC sessions, especially for drooling, spasticity (scissors or nails), ataxia, and imbalance when walking. Functional improvement was observed after one to two courses of TAC. Most children tolerated TAC well, with only occasional minor pain and bleeding in some patients.

The reason why tongue acupuncture is that experience is that there is a connection between language and the heart through the meridians that spread to all organs in the body. It is believed that the points of the tongue can influence the status of other organs of the body, giving relief to those suffering from autism.

But many believe that acupuncture alone can not help sufferers of autism. You must be combined with other things like maintaining a special diet to help improve morale and communication schools. Although it is only short term, it is better than nothing until a cure is found.

When a cure is found? Only time will tell, as there are many other issues that have to respond to doctors to better understand neurological disabilities. Doctors who are conducting research believe that an interdisciplinary approach is needed, given that acupuncture has shown positive results in helping children with autism.

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