Autism is an umbrella term used to describe a wide range of symptoms relating to the development of children and their ability to respond and relate to their environment. There are various theories, psychological and physiological, that seek to explain this behaviour, but at present the cause is essentially unknown.

The first thing I would like to say is that homeopaths don’t treat autism, they treat the individual. Disease labels are generally unhelpful in homeopathy, what is important is the characteristic symptoms the individual is exhibiting, the unique picture that person is presenting.

Homeopathy is a system of medicine based on the idea that like can be used to cure like. In other words if you give a homeopathic dose of a substance that is capable of causing the same symptoms in a healthy person as the sick person already has, you will stimulate the body to remove those symptoms. Lists of symptoms caused by various remedies have been compiled over the course of the two hundred years that homeopathy has been in existence.

Homeopathy also belongs to what might be termed the ‘vitalist’ school of thought. This holds that there is a natural healing power within the body that seeks to maintain it in health and protect it against disease. This force can be stimulated by appropriate remedies to heal the body or it can be suppressed, making the person sicker in the long run. Homeopathic theory also recognises the concept of inherited disease, the idea that we all inherit some disease tendencies from our forebears. These can be mild or severe and in young children usually manifest in quite simple ways, such as coughs, earaches, fevers or skin eruptions.

HOMEOPATHS DON’T TREAT AUTISM, THEY TREAT THE INDIVIDUAL; EACH CASE MUST BE TAKEN ON ITS MERITS

Many homeopaths are also unhappy with the routine administration of vaccinations, particularly so early in life when the immune system is immature, feeling it sensitises the individual and predisposes to other problems even when there are no dramatic immediate reactions. From the homeopathic point of view, therefore, the commonly seen scenario of a child being born, apparently healthy, being vaccinated, getting a few minor ailments, being given antibiotics, not recovering well, getting sick again, getting more antibiotics, becoming pale, listless, lethargic, no appetite, not developing as they should, is a very understandable, even logical, progression. It is not difficult to see how this process could lead to a diagnosis of ‘autism’ in some more serious cases.

I would like to stress that it is not all children who would react in this way, many have the vitality to resist this treatment and go on to develop normally. Some, however, do not.

The question then arises what can a homeopath do when confronted with such a case? Homeopathy provides various strategies. You can prescribe on the symptom picture as it is presented, you can use remedies that are good at undoing suppressions, you can attempt to identify the inherited disease factors that are weakening the child and treat them. If the child got much worse after a particular vaccine or antibiotic you can try and antidote these effects. As I said before, homeopathy treats individuals, as individuals, and each case must be taken on its merits. Most children can be helped to some degree, some a little, some a lot.

The challenge for the homeopath is always to perceive what it is that needs to be cured; if that can be done, much can happen.