Dr. John Upledger reported that through hands on examination, he sensed very tight intracranial membrane systems in autistic children, a lack of normal movement, and a high energy level.

Promotional material from a chiropractor who claims to "correct autism" with "cranial and spinal corrections for the misalignments in the skull and spine." Caveat emptor.

Howell claims the conditions amenable to NCR include: "Alzheimer's; anxiety and nervousness; arthritis, bursitis, rheumatism; attention deficit disorder, dyslexia, hyperactivity and other learning disabilities; autism; cerebral palsy; concussion and other head injuries; depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder; Down's Syndrome; dystonia; ear infection and deafness; glaucoma, double vision and other vision problems; headaches, head pressure, migraines; insomnia; low energy, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue; muscle spasms, neck and shoulder pain; organ functioning; orthodontic stress and bruxism; osteoporosis; Parkinson's disease and tremors; phobias; poor concentration and focus; relationship difficulties; sciatica, kyphosis (hunchback), lordosis (swayback), scoliosis (spiral spine), military spine & other back problems; seizures; sinusitis, sleep apnea, snoring, other breathing and sinus disorders; strokes; tinnitus; TMD, TMJ (mouth, head and jaw pains); vertigo and other balance problems; whiplash syndrome; wrinkles (NCR replaces a face lift)."

Yesterday, Brandon had his 11th adjustment, and my husband and I continue to be amazed at the drastic improvement to sensory processing issues.

Dr. Kurt Kuhn, a Waterloo neurochiropractor who specializes in treating children and young adults with attention deficit and autism-related disorders. Kuhn said the symptoms from these diagnoses manifest because of a condition recently coined functional disconnection syndrome. The condition results in a functional breakdown in the neurological pathways, which in turn causes the brain to perform at a level below what is required for higher cognitive function.

One North Bay chiropractor claims to be able to correct learning disabilities, ADD, epilepsy and autism by adjusting the bones in the skull. Psychologists say these claims are nonsense.

In 1999, after doing a comprehensive review of published studies, the British Columbia Office of Health Technology Assessment (BCOHTA) concluded that the theory is invalid and that practitioners cannot reliably measure what they claim to be modifying. The 68-page report concludes that "there is insufficient evidence to recommend craniosacral therapy to patients, practitioners, or third party payers."

What the Spinology does, or anything that's going to put the proper input, and it can be visual stimulus, which of course watching it (the spinning stick) creates, it can be auditory stimulus like if you are spinning to music that can provide it, and the proprioceptive input- that feeling of gravity, the joint mechanoreceptors, the muscle spindles and all those- all those things fire up and they come up that pathway and they exercise that cortex, it drives it to development just like exercising a muscle.

What exactly is the problem with seeking care from a chiropractor who is recognized as a professional and suppose to have the best interests of the patient in mind? Simply put, it is neck manipulation, the signature treatment of chiropractors, performed on almost every patient from newborn babies to senior citizens. This is being done with the claims by some chiropractors that it improves immunity to disease, can treat ear infections, helps digestive conditions and even autism. It is being done on adults to treat migraine headaches, low back, tail bone pain, sinusitis, hip pain and even AIDS by some chiropractors.

Our investigation reveals: # Chiropractors claimed to successfully treat childhood disorders such as Attention Deficit Disorder, hyperactivity, asthma, colic, ear infections, bedwetting, allergies, learning disabilities and even autism. A wide variety of chiropractic websites containing anti-immunization information, much of which is either false or misleading

According to the center, chiropractic care may be able to help someone with autism because it addresses spinal nerve interference and stress... Dr. Peter Tanguey, a professor of child psychiatry at the Bingham Child Guidance Center, said in an interview that he doesn't see a problem with the therapy. "Most experts will tell you there is no scientific evidence that chiropractic medicine works � but they (the children's center) have parents who are very vocal in their belief that this helps," he said. "It certainly doesn't harm them," Tanguey said. "They are good people trying to help children, and there is nothing wrong with that."

In all, I was slightly disappointed with Jack's lack of progress. It seems that, as with most of these therapies, Cranial Osteopathy is very helpful for some autistic children, but makes little difference for others.

Most autism is of multi-factorial causation. Autism is a neurologic, physical, chemical, physiologic neuro-chemical disorder that results in primary cerebral dysfunction and with secondary abnormal behavior.

By directly affecting the nervous system, chiropractic care for the autistic child can begin to change the many sensory integration issues by facilitating input into the organs and areas of the body involved in sensory integration.

Craniosacral Therapy

Perhaps, Dr. Tanguey never heard the expression, "The road to (perdition) is paved with good intentions." Still, it's possible that no autistic children will be harmed by chiropractic interventions, but since it's not really being studied we don't know. From the mass of data known about the structure and function of autistic brains it seems really unlikely that doing something to the vertebrae would or could change the brain's functioning for the better.