Change in Health Perspective & Autism
ochmadmin A Change in Health Perspective & Autism
November 18, 2014
Back to Basics
Today, it is impossible to open a magazine, turn on the television, or even walk down the street without seeing or hearing advertisements for improving your surroundings. There are creams that defy aging, pills that work miracles, and sprays that make thing disappear. I am fortunate to have been born in a century that has accomplished the unimaginable. Unfortunately, I feel that some of those accomplishments have ultimately become our downfall and have biologically endangers the lives of our planet, ourselves and most importantly, our children.
I have three children. It was a very hot summer day in 2001 when I sat on a bench waiting for my bus trying very hard not to break down in tears. I had just left a hospital where my son, just like his older brother ten years earlier, had been diagnosed with autism. Among other therapies, the doctors suggested that I consider putting him on medications in order to control his actions, handed me a bunch of pamphlets, and sent me on my way. He was just 5 years old at the time. He was getting ready to enter the first grade, but was a little different from the rest of the children. He was barely potty trained, completely non verbal and communicated through sign language. Although he preferred to do his own thing, usually pacing from one end of the room to the other….all day. He was a very loving and happy child. It was a very hard diagnosis to take, years earlier I had been reassured that autism was not hereditary and that there was little chance of every having another child with autism. I thought to myself, if they were wrong about this, what else could they possibly be wrong about?
After spending a few days to mentally work up a game plan, I decided to research some options. I quickly signed him up for speech and language pathology, early intervention, applied for some programs that help fund these programs as the government only covers costs up to age 6, then started looking up medications. I could not believe what I was seeing. I could not believe that the answer to all our problems was in a little pill that was compared to cocaine by the DEA due to its addictive and abuse potential! This was what the doctors wanted me to feed my child? Not all health problems require medicine. Some also need surgery, physical therapy, acupuncture, counseling or lifestyle changes such as more sleep, exercise, balanced nutrition, a good cry, or with love and understanding. I could not understand how giving my son a pill was going to solve anything. He is now 12 years old and is getting ready for high school. He speaks in full sentences and has an amazing sense of humor. We have tried all the trends, gluten free diet, lactose free diet, but have fallen in love with good old fashion clean eating. The only pill my son takes is a fiber supplement. We pick and choose what has worked for us as individual members of our family. To this day I am glad that I opted out of medicating my son. Now instead of masking any emotional outburst with a pill, my son has learned how to deal with his emotions.
Throughout my journey, I’ve discovered a lot about our environment. I grew up in a family that considers potato chops a vegetable. At no time did it ever cross my mind that the cooking process of that potato could potentially lead to an untimely death. Sayings such as the circle of life and you are what you eat have a whole new meaning to me. Our need to improve continues. For example, we want our fruit to last longer, so we spray them with poisons to kill off anything that may threaten the fruit. The poison is absorbed by the fruit and consumed by us. Our bodies absorb some of the poison and the rest leaves your body in your urine and stool and enters the sewer system where these chemicals or their residues go into homes of fish and wild life through creeks, rivers and oceans. From there the chemicals are absorbed back into the earth, and the circle continues. The same is true with a lot of products from the soap we wash our hair, to the cleaners we clean our floors, to the preservatives added to food to extend their shelf life. They all contain ingredients that our bodies were never meant to come into contact with and I often wonder, how much are these chemicals contributing to the undeniable increase in numbers of children being born with developmental disabilities? How about other illnesses in both children and adults such as cancer, diabetes and obesity?
Our bodies are the ultimate in team players, if there is one problem anywhere, it can effect everywhere. So why do we as a society think that one pill will fix everything. We are so trained to think that we need to “control” our problems, that we never really take the time to find out what the problem was in the first place. Its not that we are a bad society, we just need to be re-educated and hopefully as we begin to clean up our bodies, we start a new circle of life and in turn, clean up our world. We all know that the stress from work or home life can make you sick, what we need is someone to help us find away to balance it. I want to be that person. I would love the opportunity to help people balance their lives through physical therapy, acupuncture, counseling or lifestyle changes such as more sleep, exercise, balanced nutrition, a good cry, or with love, understanding, and yes when necessary, medicines.
To understand why I wanted to become a homeopath, one needs to understand my life. There is no one event that made me wake up one day and yell “I want to be a homeopath!” , but years of events that all lead me to this path. I think it’s time to get back to basics.
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