Massage For Children Suffering From Autism Shows Promise As An Adjunctive Treatment

Children suffering from autism and the autism spectrum disorders are often in a very lonely and vulnerable place. They are unable to communicate with their peers, parents, or other adults who are trying to help them. Autism is a disorder that is characterized by brain development issues, where social interaction, intellectual ability, motor coordination, and other aspects of the person’s development are affected.

Oftentimes, the child suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder will excel in creative activities such as art and music. Naturally, parents of these children, who are often also extremely gifted and highly intelligent, are looking for ways to help their children to develop into healthy and well-adjusted adults. Autism has increased in frequency ten fold over the last forty years, with improved diagnostics and testing having been determined not to be responsible for this increase.

So, more children are suffering around the world with this disorder, for which parents are justifiably lead to seek out alternative treatment options to help their children. Most of the treatments offered for children on the autism spectrum center around behavior therapy and behavior interventions. There are many different types, but most of them have been proven to be effective.

There are, however, additional methods that can be used in the treatment of autism and related disorders. Massage therapy, for example, has been shown in various studies to be effective in reducing stereotypical autistic behaviors in children when compared with a control group. Stereotypical behaviors are those such as touch aversion, off task behavior, orienting to irrelevant sounds, and withdrawal. In three studies on the effects of massage therapy on these children, these behaviors were significantly reduced.

For those seeking to add more help for their children with autism, massage therapy holds definite promise. Another modality that has been shown to be effective in the treatment of autism is CranioSacral Therapy. Having been studied primarily in a case study environment, there are no studies that have been performed with a control group. However, an article on autism which can be linked to here, publishes the conclusions of John Upledger, who has worked with many children with autism spectrum disorders.

He concludes that in many cases of autism, membrane tensions of the craniosacral system due to inflammation may be a significant causative factor in the development of autism. He additionally recommends that those receiving craniosacral therapy for autism continue to receive it throughout their growth period, as their growth spurts can create additional membrane tensions as they grow older.

If your children are suffering from autism or from autism spectrum disorder, and you are interested in learning more about how massage therapy can help, you can visit our website by clicking here. You can also visit our massage benefits area for autism by clicking here. Pediatric massage for kids is available from Mountainside On Site Massage Therapy.