Autism and Attention-Deficit-Hyperactive Disorder Helped with Chiropractic

The fourth quarter issue of the Asian-Pacific Chiropractic Journal published the results of a case study documenting the improvement under chiropractic care of a young boy who was suffering with the issues of his Autism and Attention-Deficit-Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD).

The study authors make it clear that chiropractic does not treat autism or ADHD. What chiropractic does is seek to correct interference in the nerve system from vertebral subluxations. In correcting subluxations, the patient’s nerve system is allowed to return to a more normal function and address health issues better.

In this case, a 6-year-old boy was brought to the chiropractor. The boy had been diagnosed with both autism and ADHD. His mother reported that her son had difficulty focusing and staying on task, would not respond to his name, and was non-verbal. His mother also noted that her son used little to no eye contact, had difficulties sitting in the same spot for more than ten seconds, and had difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep. The boy also engaged in some destructive behavior such as tearing up books instead of reading them.

A chiropractic examination was performed which included palpation of the spine and thermal scans. The results of his examination revealed that the boy had multiple areas of vertebral subluxations. Based on the results of the examination, the researcher created a care plan and stated, "Aims of care were established as removing interference from the nervous system by correcting subluxations so that the body would be better able to regulate itself. Additional clinical aims of seeing improvements in sleep, focus, attention, and less stress in the nervous system were established and the upper cervical spine was determined to be an area of focus for care."

Immediately after the boy’s very first adjustment, it was recorded that the boy was able to take a big breath and relax. He instantly became more calm and started sitting in a chair instead of jumping on it. On the second visit, his mother reported that after returning home from her son’s first adjustment, he fell asleep only 30 minutes after his bath and dinner, a process that usually took over two hours.

Both the boy’s mother and chiropractor noticed that the boy was more focused and attentive when his mom and the chiropractor were speaking to him. Over the next few weeks, the boy became more verbal and was trying to speak more. Eventually, the boy was moved from a special day classroom setting to a general education setting. He was becoming more responsive and making eye contact. He also stopped tearing books up and was able to turn pages and follow along as he and his mother read books.

In their conclusion, the authors stated, "Chiropractors make no claim of ‘cure’ with autism or ADHD. In this case there were no other notable changes made in the child’s routine, and significant changes in his well-being were noted over the course of care. Therefore we can state there is a relationship between Chiropractic care and the function of this child’s nervous system tone and sympathetic arousal, and that a restored state of calm had been noted."