I am an expert in learning disabilities; not in Autism. However, over the years I have had the privilege to help a few people on the spectrum, and learned a thing or two. Please feel free to pass these lessons on to others who are affected by ASD, so they can be helped as well.
1. The Moro primitive reflex is probably correlated with Autism.
Some of the symptoms that come along with a Moro reflex that is present include:
- Hypersensitivity to light and sound
- Doesn't maintain eye contact
- Emotionally sensitive
- Anxiety
I had 15 people on the autism spectrum tested to see if they had a present Moro, and 14 did. This was a simple ad hoc study, but a strong correlation nonetheless!
2. Integrating the Moro reflex can have a powerful and strong positive affect on those with Autism.
A mom brought her 10 year old autistic daughter to me for an evaluation, and I was at least able to determine that there was a strong Moro reflex present. For the next month, the girl did her integration exercises, and at the end of the month, her teacher had called the mom to tell her that she had overcome her social anxiety and sound hypersensitivity.
Here is an email from a teacher in California:
I have a student that a year ago was basically a selective mute on the Autistic Spectrum. I have put a lot of work in class working in the Moro and can report that she changed like a light switch coming on. She is speaking in class, she will transition independently, is reading basic readers, and is exhibiting significantly fewer behaviors to the point that we may be removing the 1:1 behavioral specialist from her IEP.
Mark Steiner
3. Integrating the Moro reflex is not the silver bullet - part 1
An adult Aspie I know tried doing the Starfish exercise daily, but it only caused her additional anxiety. The only positive change she saw was that she could locate where sounds originated from for the first time. It is extremely rare for a person to have such negative response, however.
4. Integrating the Moro reflex is not the silver bullet - part 2
Regression comes from trauma, no matter what the problem or therapy. Regression simply looks like this: what has worked in the past no longer works. The trauma could be emotional, like abuse or a parent dying. The trauma could be physical like a traumatic brain injury or disease.
The 10 year old girl mentioned above had regression and lost the wonderful changes she had seen. Autism must be very invasive and traumatic to the body on a daily basis. This does not mean that you don't bother with the therapy; it means that you continue the therapy daily for your life. Just like we brush our teeth daily to keep them in good shape, a person with Autism should do the Starfish exercise daily to maintain their matured brain and nervous system.
5. Metronome work helps with speech
I worked with a 9 year old boy who had lost speech when he was 1 ½. Since then he had been given quite a bit of therapy, so that by the time I worked with him, he was speaking. However, his speech was parroting. I would say "Do you want to do this now?" and he would answer, "Yes, I want to do this now." He spoke in a false sing song voice as he was taught.
I was working on him doing cognitive training, and I always use the metronome a lot. In 5 weeks, he was speaking so naturally that a visiting doctor could not tell that he was Autistic!
So those are my lessons, and I hope that these help you put together even more of the puzzle that is Autism.
