Thursday, July 28, 2011

It doesn't usually work like this

A woman who is a teacher and has worked at day-care centers was concerned about one of her twin boys, who we will call twin A.  At 18 months, his speech was delayed, and his motor function was uncoordinated compared to his twin (twin B).  While twin B would play with one toy for a while and then move on to another, twin A would just hold a box next to his face for hours.  He did not let anyone touch him, threw a lot of tantrums, and banged his head against the wall in his sleep.  His eye contact was poor and he was very afraid of strangers.  Mother suspected Autism Spectrum Disorder  Her physician arranged for testing.  Before the testing, mother decided to try acupuncture for her son.

I treat pediatrics in my practice, and most of the time we do not need to insert needles.  Acupuncture is about moving the energy of the patient- and the energy of children is a lot less stuck than that of adults.  Typically we will do a technique called "touch-needling" where we touch the back of the needle to the point for 30-60 seconds and then move on to the next point.  I used this technique on twin A.

A week later, they returned for a follow-up.  Immediately after the treatment, he became more affectionate and would let his parents touch and cuddle with him.  He bagan making the "D" sound and saying words that start with "D" (which he had not done previously).  He stopped throwing tantrums and became more engaging with strangers.  His eye contact improved to normal.  And he stopped clinging to boxes and started playing with toys.   He stopped banging his head at night and slept better. 

Mother took him for the Autism testing and the doctor could see no abnormal behaviors.  She is thrilled and so am I.  It is known in China that early intervention (before age 2 ideally) can remedy developmental problems.  But it usually takes a course of treatment.  Twin A had an amazing response just from one treatment.  I saw him a week later, and now we will wait 10 days before his third session.  I expect that we will graduate him soon. 

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