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Asist. Univ. Dr. Cojocaru Adriana – Președinte SNPCAR


COMPLEMENTARITY HOMEOPATHY FOR ABA THERAPY FOR CHILDREN WITH AUTISM

Autor: Radu Naghiu
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The paper presents a study case on 46 autistic children that benefit upon a personalized therapeutic protocol, the Napocensis Protocol, whose major objective is to retrieve at least one year of mental age in one year of therapy. The total therapeutic length was 36 months but the target group decreased to 24 and 13 children in the second and the third year, respectively. The best results were obtained on subjects who began their therapy before turning on 3 years of age, by retrieving more than a year in the first as well as the second year of therapy. Remarkable results have been observed in 4 subjects of different age categories after the third year of therapy, by getting over 40 moths of mental age retrieved. A significant therapeutical coupling effect between the ABA therapy and homeopathic medicine has been emphasized, which reveals the activator characteristic of homeopathic medicine on the ABA therapy. A series of ground principles to follow in autism treatment have been developed.

Introduction

Parents of children with autism want their child getting better, cured if possible, in other words, the child to be able to have an independent life.
To consider recovered, healed a child with autism requires that the mental development to be on every area [1], at the chronological age for all areas tested, namely: SH – self-help, SO – socialization, LG – language, MO – Motricity, CG – cognitive, QD – development rate.
When receiving a diagnosis of autism, autistic child has a gap between the chronological and mental age. For the two ages to be equal autistic child must recover each calendar year of therapy, one year and several months on mental age.
Although the literature offers a number of thematic studies [2-7] at present there is no consensus about what is autism, is it a psychiatric manifestations disease, or a learning disorder? There is no consensus about which medication is effective [8-10] or about what therapies are useful [11], or about the indications and limitations of each and every medication therapies.

Lovaas therapy

Ivar Lovaas one of the known parents of Applied Behavior Analysis for therapy (ABA), published in 1987 the results of the first study [12] on the efficacy of ABA therapy. The study included 19 children with the age between 2 and 4 years. Lovaas was the program coordinator for all children in the study; Lovaas’s students were guardians of children. Children received 8 hours of ABA per day for 2 years. Lovaas described the progress of children in the experimental study [12] as follows:

a. A group that could reach full recovery. Lovaas says that 47% of children (9 of the 19 children) have reached «normal functioning l» by the age of 7 when they enter successfully regular schooling.
b. An intermediate group, 40% of children (8 children) who have made notable progress, but some autistic symptoms remained present.
c. A group of 2 children, 10% of children in the study, progress have been minimal.
All subjects in the study by Lovaas received 8 hours of ABA per day. 10% had no benefit, and 40% reduced benefit. Had it only count the number of hours of therapy when subjects would have presented similar progress, which shows that the number of hours of ABA per day is only important for children who have the ability to spontaneously imitate from the environment.

The objectives in the treatment of autistic children

1. A child with autism to regain the ability to feel and express emotions. Children with autism have as a parent, a mixture of the parent like an object (which he looks at when needed) and the true mother. The first step is to restore the child-parent relationship as neurotypical child, the mother is the reference of departure to explore the world.
2. Children with autism need to be able to learn, to imitate natural and spontaneous. All children with autism have in common the inability to spontaneously imitate the environment. Children with autism [13] do not mimic on all the developmental areas, while children with Asperger syndrome [14] does not have spontaneous social imitation. If the child is able to spontaneously imitate from the environment, he begins to learn from the environment, like a small child.
3. The child with autism needs to receive a structured learning program to recover the deficit of knowledge, based on the children’s age. Needs to receive a quality therapy.
4. Children with autism receiving medication and therapy need to recover at least a year on mental age in a calendar year. In this way the gap between mental age and biological age will be decreased, and in one or two years these children may follow mainstream education alongside neurotypical children of a younger age.
5. To maintain this pace of learning for life. As biological age increases, new notions that a child must learn become more complex. Experience has shown that not all children with autism, who, over a period of several years, have great advances, will have the same rate of learning, which falls mainly on the social side.
6. Children with autism to have feelings and to be ashamed. If he feels ashamed and has feelings then is able to learn new social behaviors from their mistakes and from others mistakes.
7. To achieve independent living. Through independent life we understand that mental age is equal in all aspects of development with chronological age. If the mental age on all the areas of the development is equal with chronological age that means no autistic symptoms.

Case Study

This study aimed to monitor the progress of a group of autistic children who followed a program customized ABA Medical Center Napocensis, called Napocensis Protocol, for the development of some principles for the treatment of autism with a general application.
Napocensis Protocol is a combination of homeopathic medication and ABA therapy. It is also associated with speech therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and stimulation / sensory integration, according to the needs of each child. The number of hours of ABA therapy was between 3 and 10 hours per week. Children at the start of the protocol, up to age 3 years, followed 3 to 5 hours per week.
Napocensis Protocol target is that in a calendar year to recover at least a year on mental age per subject.
The total number of children taken into consideration the group was 46 and the criteria of inclusion in this group was that the subjects have completed a period of at least one year of the Napocensis Protocol.

A first classification of the target group was performed on four age groups, namely:

• Category 0-3 years: 17% of the target group;
• Category 3-4 years: 22% of the target group;
• Category 4-7 years: 41% of target group;
• Category 7 years: 20% of the target group.
A second classification of the target group aimed coupling ABA therapy with homeopathic medicines. 63% of the target group – is given by subjects who received full treatment Homeopathic medicines, 20% of the subjects received partial Homeopathic therapy, and 17% without homeopathic therapy.

Results and discussion

Monitoring the subjects of the target group was made taking into account of the first year of intervention and the second year of intervention, noting that only 24 children attended at least 2 years of treatment, modifying the distribution of the 2nd year age categories, as follows:
• Category 0-3 years: 12% of the total target group (24 subjects);
• Category 3-4 years: 21% of the target group (24 subjects);

FIGURE 1

 

Figure 1. Indicators of assessment of the mental age / biological age.
It was noted that the speed of the recovery period is significantly higher for mental age for the age group 0-3 years, so after the first year of intervention and in the second year of intervention (Figure 2), but it is worth noting that all ages, all groups have had progress. It is obvious that the early stage of physical development is conducive to recovery accelerated mental development.
Autism by definition is a disease with onset before the age of 3 years. Definition accepts a development widely periods of normalcy, followed by a period of stagnation or even regression in social and cognitive.
If the intervention is early, before the age of 3 years, chances of recovery are higher. Early intervention involves efficiently stopping and starting the installation of new symptoms of recovery. Neuroplasticity of the brain is at maximum in the young children.

FIGURE 2

 

Figure 2. Results of the target group after the first and after the second year of intervention under the Protocol Napocensis. Furthermore, the study follow-up in the 3rd year of intervention carried out on a target group of 13 subjects showed remarkable results to give more than 40 months collected for four subjects in three age groups (Figure 3).

FIGURE 3

 

Figure 3. Results of the target group for 3 years under the Protocol Napocensis intervention.
In Figure 4 presents the results of the study conducted on the same target group in terms of complementarity homeopathic treatment performed during Napocensis intervention under the Protocol.

FIGURE 4

 

It notes an increase in the recovery mental age for subjects who received medical treatment homeopathic complementary ABA therapy, compared to those who did not receive this treatment; these results were most striking in the 2nd year treatment. This behavior shows a significant coupling ABA therapy – medication within the meaning of homeopathic active effect demonstrated by the ABA homeopathic medicine.

Conclusion

Disease severity can be determined only after commencing therapy. Regardless of the initial degree of affection, all children should receive therapy.
Subjects who followed the protocol Napocensis before the age of 3 years had the best results and have progressed steadily recovering one year and several months a year on mental age, both first and second year of therapy the 2nd.
Recovery ratio decreases with age, so after that period can make progress measurable increase to 6 months after intervention for the age group 3-4 years and 12 months respectively for ages 4-7 years and over 7 years.
Based on the results obtained in the study of homeopathic treatment on complementarity ABA therapy has shown a significant effect coupling ABA therapy – homeopathic medication which shows the quality of homeopathic activator of ABA therapy.
Target group monitoring results enable the development of basic principles in the treatment of autism, namely:
• The first principle – “Primum non nocere” (at first, do no harm). If the child receives medication, the drugs act gentle, effective and without side effects. If the child is to undergo this therapy to help him learn and understand and not to create frustration and protest therapy and therapist, respectively,
• The second principle – after medication and therapy that follows the child with autism needs to go through all the stages of child development neurotypical. Children with autism must receive therapy programs consistent with the mental age of each area (social, language, cognitive, self-service motor). All inappropriate behavior of a child with autism should be examined from the perspective of whether the behavior is appropriate for a child younger than neurotypical. If appropriate, when that behavior must not be extinguished, but must be helped to walk faster that stage of development. To go through all the normal stages of development, must take account of its sensory issues and have helped integrate and sensory point of view.
• The third principle – medication and therapy is started developing the area where age is the lowest. The youngest age of a child with autism is EMOTIONAL age. It must start with restoring the relationship autistic child – parent that parent object to regain the true mother. For neurotypical child normal child relationship – the parent’s underlying ability to explore the world, to be curious, to call the reference when in danger or does not know what to do.

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