Aspergers, ADHD and alternative therapies?

[BiddyPop]

Can I please ask you if there is any benefit in looking at homeopathy or other alternative therapies for DD, with a joint Asp/ADHD dx and associated anxiety? (And I kinda need the ladybird version to start).

I know that I see mentions of various supplements in discussions but I don't know what is good for what syndrome.

I have the name of a homeopathy practitioner (the local homeo store is closing down so I was stocking up on things like aromatherapy oils and anica sticks for bruises) - is it worth a visit to her?

Are there foods that I should particularly consider as very helpful, or very UNhelpful? She has a reasonably balanced diet, but is eating less with the meds she is on (Concerta), so it's a combination question of ensuring she eats sufficiently well enough generally, while trying to get in things that will help and avoid things that others have found to make things worse (or that cutting them out has helped).

Do things like yoga help? There are some "yoga for kids" type courses available locally that I can look into, and I enjoyed doing it when I had time - I'd be happy to do a "mom and me" type thing focussed on her needs if we couldn't get a class to suit (I work FT and most classes are afternoons after school).

She does do a lot of sports (gaelic football and hurling, swimming, "playball"), and a computer class. While we want to keep the gaelic going, and swimming for another year, are there other activities I should try to get her into? (She did try speech and drama for a year, and tae kwon do for a term - liked S&D but not as much as sports, didn't like TKD). We don't have room for a piano at the moment (but I am hopeful for next year).

I know that ranges across a LOT of territory - I am still trying to find my feet with this all, and thinking broadly yet. But any wisdom from those who have been through it before me would be very gratefull received.

Thanks, BiddyPop

The therapies that I have done which have been very successful for my ASD ds are:

• Tinsely House therapy
• Retained Reflex Therapy
• Auditory Integration Training
• Gluten Free / Dairy Free
• Cranial Osteopath

Here are some books you could start with:

GAPS diet - which explains why you should go Gluten Free, and Is that my child - which is why I went to Tinsley House

I would certainly start by going gluten and dairy free, and cutting out artificial sweeteners, and cutting way down on sugar and increasing protein.

For supplements you want to start with omega, and zinc and magnesium.

There's heaps and heaps and heaps you can do.

Diet and supplements certainly help a huge amount.

the top NHS children's neurologist we saw advised us to look at alternative therapies. it was a bit worrying at the time but I now kind of see where he was coming from!

Personally I'm not really a believer in homeopathy but I would second Tinsley House and perhaps INPP in Chester. I think sports and music are good for all children. I don't think you need an official 'class' for all these things, a lot can be done at home, even if you don't have a piano!

HTH.

I think homeopathy will give you the ingredients for very expensive urine, frankly
My son is at tinsley house and doing very well.
Also went to inpp and was very pleased with the results for dx.

Thank you for those pointers. I am based in Ireland (Dublin), so getting to Tinsley House or INPP wouldn't be possible really.

But I will look into the other things you've all mentioned.

I haven't been to them either! but both have associated books which I've found useful. One is robin pauc, "is that my child?" and the other is sally goddard blythe, the well balanced child.

Lots of OTs do retained reflex therapy, so if you google you should find one in Ireland.

You shouldn't do retained reflex therapy (which INPP is) at the same time as Tinsley House, so you do have to choose.

You can do the first 2 months of TH without going there, by following the instructions in The Brain Food Plan

Although you can get TH in Ireland: tinsleyhouseclinic.co.uk/contact-us/find-an-international-clinic/#ireland

The Primary movement programme was invented in Ireland

Volunteering for research is not exactly alternative, but would be complementary / extra to the usual offerings. The "non-specific benefits" of doing anything giving extra professional attention, are so genuine and so powerful that they had to invent the whole placebo-effect concept.

Thank you all, I will look into those over the coming while, and see what we can try here. I am certainly going to look at diet (I don't know about full GFCF (?) method, but I know I have to go for coeliac testing too soon seperately), and things like omegas and supplments. And getting a few of those books (DH just got a nice book token he says I can use for books ). We should be meeting school next week also, and they might have some ideas too.

We're doing homeopathy (CEASE therapy) and I really believe in it. The website is a bit superficial but if you read the book (by Tinus Smits) it's much more comprehensive. But you need to find a trained homeopath for that, I remember there were 1 or 2 near Dublin. We had first gone to a regular naturopath but her treatment was very light and not adapted. Since we started the Cease therapy with a proper homeopath we have really seen a difference.

GAPS is much more than gluten free, it's actually grain free (and many other things). It's quite scary at first with all the restrictions but we're about to start fully now. Gluten free in the GAPS philosophy is not enough at all (ie replacing gluten by rice is just as detrimental to the gut flora).

I also recommemd cranial osteopathy!