Myths & Facts About Reiki

Last week a new Reiki client called me out of the blue to schedule a session. The result of that session left me with the notion that I really need to focus more on what is working in my professional life rather than on what is not. I guess you could call this writing a continuation of my previous post entitled "The 'Other' Calling," in which I describe how being autistic leads to a natural flair for being a minister. The one thing that my menus of health care services and ministerial services have in common is Reiki healing. Thus, it is the Reiki that will be my primary focus for promotion and advertisement from now on.

While many people reading this article may wonder what Reiki is, I will explain it in a nutshell for now. Hawayo Takata explained that Reiki means Universal Life Energy, and we are all composed of this energy. It is that force behind the flow of everything – healing of wounds, the circulating of blood, the flowing of water, the blowing of wind, etc. This energy can be used for healing. During a Reiki session, hands are placed in various areas on or over the body, front and back. There is no manipulation. The Universal Life Energy simply flows on its own accord to the areas where healing is needed. We all have this ability to some degree. With Reiki attunement and training, this ability is magnified immensely to where the results can actually be quantified and measured.

My deep appreciation and excitement for Reiki healing goes far beyond what can be experienced in the purely physical sense. Because of that connection that exists with the Universe, I feel obligated to be true to the original methods, teachings, and practices of what Reiki really is. Unfortunately, there are too many people out there, including Reiki practitioners themselves, that DON'T know what it is, just like that new Reiki client who came to see me last week who said that he was a trained practitioner himself. The "knowing" isn't based on ideas about techniques and teachings -- it is based on the experience of what Reiki can do for you. Those who abide by the founding principles and teachings are not only more knowledgeable, they are also more respectful of the energy and of the Reiki Masters (teachers) who originally developed this great healing art. The true Reiki healer does not let his/her ego get in the way. A high degree of respect automatically takes ego out of the equation. Lastly, and most importantly to the client or patient, the one receiving the Reiki healing will experience something far greater than anything they've ever felt before. The Reiki session ends up being an unforgettable, life-changing experience!

To continue, I need to make it clear that I am not a Reiki Master at this point in time. I hope to be someday. There are three different “levels” of Reiki practice. The 1^st Degree practitioner performs hands-on healing for physical illness and injury, and the 2^nd Degree practitioner is able to use Reiki for psychological and spiritual healing as well as being able to perform in-absentia healing and other metaphysical/paranormal applications. As far as being a healer goes, one is complete in their abilities at the 2^nd Degree level. The Master is one who is trained to attune and teach other practitioners. In the traditional method of Reiki, there are no other levels. The 2^nd Degree practitioner is given three symbols, or “keys”, to work with in their healing practice. The Master is given a fourth symbol which empowers them to empower others. In the traditional method of Reiki, there are no other symbols, and these symbols are NEVER revealed, never shared, and never discussed. To do otherwise, such as posting the symbols on a website or displaying them blatantly during a session, is an abomination to the tradition. Reverence for the energy is paramount.

I’ve been writing “the traditional method” quite a bit in this article. That is so that I can set it apart from the non-traditional, and often less effective, methods that have been, rather egoistically, developed since Reiki came to the United States. In that light, one who practices and respects the traditional method will be intimately knowledgeable of Reiki’s history. I am not going to tell the entire history here. That is for a true Master to teach. Reiki is NOT an ancient healing art that was “invented” more than 2,000 years ago. It was discovered, and gifted to, a monk named Mikao Usui in Japan in April of 1921. Because of the great work of developing and perfecting it, done by Chujiro Hayashi and Hawayo Takata, the original Usui System Of Natural Healing According To Hawayo Takata was born. It was not originally called “Reiki”. “Leiki”, later called “Reiki”, is the word that Usui used to refer to the actual energy. When Takata brought the teachings to the West in 1970, much to the dismay of the traditionalists in Japan, she trained 22 Reiki Masters in this traditional system of healing. Unfortunately, not all 22 of them kept true to the original teachings. They instilled their own egoistic ideas, creating their own methods, and mixed Reiki with other healing arts. THIS is what exists in grossly large amounts in this day and age. I once talked to a Reiki “Master” here in Minnesota who said to me that she “heard of” Hawayo Takata. I was appalled at the lack of knowledge and respect, which translates into less effective ability as well. I consider myself blessed to have been taught by the student of one of those original 22 Masters of the West who kept the teachings pure, unwavering from their origins. Because of the utmost degree of respect that I have for Reiki, I follow in their footsteps with great honor.

Perhaps the greatest myth that exists today about Reiki is that you can learn all levels in one weekend for only about a hundred dollars. This is far from the truth. It cost me $650 and more than three months of apprenticeship under my Master, Rev. Betty McKeon, to learn the intimacies of how Reiki works. You get what you pay for, and you receive what you are capable of handling. True Masters will have spent at least $10,000 and several years of apprenticeship under their Masters before becoming Masters themselves. True traditionalists will also know what their Reiki lineage is. Mine is posted on my website.

Shortly after I was trained in the 2^nd Degree, I had performed a successful spiritual cleansing of someone’s home which was haunted. When I was talking to a fellow member of a healing circle about the experience, she asked me how on earth I did it. Another person who was listening in on the conversation advised me that the person I was talking to was a Reiki “Master”. I figured that if she really WAS a Reiki Master she would have no need to ask. That just showed me that my Master was right about most people out there not practicing, and not even knowing about, the traditional method of Reiki, even though they staunchly think that they do. As for the new client that I performed a session on last week, his ego quickly disappeared when he experienced something profound during his session – a session that his own Reiki “Master” was never able to give him. He learned the depth and intensity of my respect for traditional Reiki. As I found out later from the person who had taken over the practice of my Reiki Master’s Master (Rev. Fran Brown) after her passing in 2009, my client’s “Master” was one of Takata’s 22 Masters that did NOT keep the teachings pure and destroyed what she was given with her own ego-driven ideas.

Another myth is that since all energy is the same one should not charge for their healing services. One of my Spiritual Teachers, Swami Muktananda, once said that it is not a bad thing if one’s healing practice is their livelihood as long as they are honest in their work. Yes, there are those like me who do this as a profession. In addition, those who are WILLING to pay for the service are the ones who know the true VALUE of what they are receiving. Therefore, they will certainly gain more from it. For people who have never experienced real Reiki before, and to give people a sample of my style, I will certainly offer a five-minute session at no charge. It is interesting to observe that people quite often experience something profound just during the sample! It is even more amazing what they walk away with after a full session. With me, a full session lasts an average of 75 minutes. On numerous occasions during the 13 years I’ve been practicing Reiki, I’ve had people say to me that even though they’ve had Reiki done to them before, they never felt the magnitude of powerful energy that they felt with me. That usually leads to a discussion about the difference between the nontraditional “Westernized” methods and the pure, unadulterated, traditional method, “the way it was taught and practiced in Japan,” that I use. There definitely IS a difference!

Two other myths about Reiki that make it out to be some kind of New Age hokey pokey game are the ideas that the practitioner is “clearing” the client’s chakras and that Spirit Guides are communicating with them and guiding them. The energy actually flows on its own accord, and its effects cannot be directed or predicted. Intuitive information does arise, unattributable to any kind of angelic or garish entities. On that note, I will share a personal view. It’s not just that the traditional teachings are more pure and potent. My Reiki Master told me that I was so connected to the energy that I was a natural. People who are autistic do seem to have a natural ability to be connected to the universe, the inspiration, that surrounds them. This is what I attribute my “natural” ability to. There is something transcendental about placing my hands on someone and experiencing the flow of energy. During the course of the 75-minute (average) session, intuition itself “speaks”, and I share the information with my client. Oftentimes it ends up being an Edgar Cayce-like experience. They learn something about themselves that helps them along in their quest for healing and positive life change. They walk away with something tangible they can use.

For more information about my Reiki healing services, please see my website at http://www.DrPatSuglia.com/reiki .

The "Other" Calling

Although it’s been a couple months since I last wrote a blog post, I’ve been quite busy writing my book about being autistic. I’ve also been busier with planning and officiating wedding ceremonies, as it is that time of year. I don’t usually focus so much on my ministerial work in my writings, but in this blog post I will. In just two hours from now I’ll be officiating a wedding ceremony in this tourist town of Rice Lake, WI. When I woke up this morning, things started clicking in my mind. Becoming an Ordained Minister is something that occurred by happenstance way back in October of 2001. I didn’t really do anything with it until 2004, which is when I officiated my first wedding. Even my attempts at starting my own church fell flat simply because I wasn’t really motivated. But now something is different. Times have changed, and feelings have changed.

For the most part, I felt rather uneasy officiating weddings and performing other ministerial tasks. It wasn’t because I was afraid of being in front of crowds. I am not. Perhaps being autistic had something to do with it. And then this morning, as I lied in bed half-awake, this realization suddenly came to me:

The five points of being an autistic wedding minister:

1. You are a man of the cloth. Your social foibles are forgiven.
2. You are not building relationships, and these people will never see you again.
3. You will feel out of place because you are not part of this family. Don't worry about it.
4. You will be looked up to anyway because of your important role.
5. Regarless of the first 4 points, you are automatically considered trustworthy and may even become somebody's confidant along the way.

During yesterday’s rehearsal for today’s wedding, these points were very palpable. That which made me feel so uncomfortable in the past was suddenly a moot point.

These same points DO NOT apply to being a chiropractor. Since almost all people see chiropractors as either not "real" doctors or an "optional" piece of the puzzle, I am automatically under more scrutiny and am being judged more, a fact that I cannot afford being autistic. It’s not that I want to leave this profession. Those that know what I do say that I am a great healer (their words, not mine), thus I want to continue helping those who trust me enough to experience what I have to offer. It is just that since this part of my life has not panned out the way I wanted it to, perhaps, after eleven years of trying, it’s time to shift my focus.

When I was a very young kid, John, the kid I grew up with that lived next door to me, and I used to pretend that we were Catholic priests. We both went to Parochial schools and were very active in our churches as altar boys. We both became very close friends with our parish pastors. Now John lives in a seminary. While his goal is to become a priest, he of course balks at my having become a minister "for hire". In the end, though, it seems that we followed through, in our own ways, with that which had inspired us in our younger years.

For me, I see it as something different, yet at the same time not. I am still a healer. I’m just not performing in the "doctor" role at the moment. As an Ordained (Interfaith) Minister, I can still use energy medicine (Reiki) to hold healing sessions. I can counsel on a spiritual level. My service to the Heart (the hub in which God dwells) through bringing people together in wedding ceremonies, memorializing people at funerals , welcoming people into this world through baptism, or in other ways, is how I am serving humanity. This is a duty, and this is a most honorable CALLING.

Such food for thought.

Caveat Emptor

Yesterday I was killing some time at the Rosedale Center before it was time to go to the Autism Society of Minnesota’s Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder support group. I was browsing through books the health and wellness section at Borders when I came across a few books on autism. One particular book caught my eye. Its message said that autism is not a behavioral disorder but a disease that can be effectively treated. Next I saw that the book was written by someone who is a strong advocate for the “Defeat Autism Now!” diet program. That was quite a pshaw moment for me. If autism was THAT easy to take care of, then nobody would have it. Besides, I bet a lot of the people who I and my social worker/counselor know that tried the DAN! program to no avail would like to have a word or two with some DAN! practitioners and advocates. The truth is that not everybody that has autism has a gluten or a casein allergy. I don’t. Also, autism is NOT a disease. It is not even a behavioral “disorder”. It is a different-than-the-norm way that the brain is wired which affects the way people think, feel, interpret, learn, socialize, problem solve, and communicate. In the worst cases, it also affects one’s ability to be functional to any viable degree.

Unfortunately, there are people and “health practitioners” out there who are using autism as their marketing tool, as their way to market a product or service to a vulnerable niche. This may sound like an extremely harsh criticism on my part. After all, some people really ARE helped by the DAN! program and by other medical and alternative medical treatment programs out there. That is absolutely wonderful, and I love hearing testimonials about things that work. But, what irks me to no end is when people with clout take what helped them or their family member, get up on a lucrative soapbox, and market their story and product as THE solution for ALL people with autism. It just doesn’t work that way! This is why I am not an advocate of any organization that promotes one thing or, like the DAN! program does, promotes the latest thing to come along. So, since gluten/casein diets obviously don’t help EVERYone with autism, along came the mitochondrial defect theory -- a new soapbox to captivate an audience. Mitochondrial diseases do exist. But the people who have them have musculoskeletal disorders, not autism. People with autism can have mitochondrial diseases, and when this issue is addressed they do improve. But, like everything else, it is not a be-all-and-end-all answer.

These sometimes melodramatic pitches about “what helped my child will help everybody” or “what I have (or do) is THE cure” are why I am a practitioner of responsible functional medicine evaluation. Do I tell people I can help them? Sure! Do I promise people I can cure them? Absolutely not. Can I test you for food allergies? Yes. I can also test for mitochondrial disease, for heavy metal toxicity, for genetic defects, for impaired neurological development, for amino acid deficiency, for hormonal imbalances, and a whole lot more. I don’t just randomly throw you onto an arbitrary treatment and expect things to get better. My approach is very different. Unlike some “health practitioners” who do the DAN! program, chelation therapy, and maybe even hyperbaric oxygen treatments or some other theoretical workage all at once and with no apparent basis for some of them, my approach is extremely individualized, evidence-based, and conservative. And it comes without promises of a cure.

With that being said, I should point out some important news from the “other side”, from the perspective of the person that HAS autism. Many of US do not like being treated as a person with a disease, somebody who needs to be corrected or cured, nor do we like being looked down upon because we don’t “fit in”. We just want to be accepted AS WE ARE. My goal is not to “fix” your kid, your spouse, or you who don’t seem to “get it”. My goal is to help those who are least functional, are greatly challenged, or who really want to see what they can do for themselves and their overall health concerns, and to do so sincerely and with compassion. After all, I have autism too, and I DO know what your concerns are.

And Along Came Rocco

Once upon a time, my wife Bianca would have never considered getting a dog. I would have considered getting one to be a companion to our future children. Those ideas all changed a couple years ago when Bianca's parents bought a dog. Their German Shepherd named Jumbo changed our hearts and minds. So, for the past couple years, Bianca and I had in the back of our minds the thought of one day owning a dog. This past June, I happened to be browsing the internet for puppies. I figured that we should get a Labrador Retriever because I heard that they were family-friendly. I happened to see on the American Kennel Club website that a breeder had puppies for sale. I was sitting at the computer looking at the listing, and I called to Bianca who was in the next room, "Do you want to get a dog?" The rest is history.

I decided to name our new puppy Rocco because it seemed like such an appropriate name for a male lab. It has a certain kind of oomph to it. Little did Bianca and I realize how Rocco would strengthen the bond between us and bring more stability to our frames of mind. While Rocco is a paramount source of stress relief for Bianca, he is also the avenue by which I can get out of my own head and show how capable I am of taking care of family responsibilities. Bianca says she never saw me happier than when I am spending time with Rocco. To tell you the truth, I never felt happier! In return, Rocco senses that as well.

It is no great surprise that animals have such a therapeutic effect on people. There are horse riding camps for disabled children. There are people who have their dogs and cats trained to be therapy companions and visit people in hospitals and nursing homes. There is even a type of psychotherapy called AAT, or animal-assisted therapy. Because of my own personal experiences, and seeing for myself the effect animals have on fellow audies, I cannot stress enough how vital having a pet is for ANYone.

I recently saw that there will soon be a study done that examines the unique connection between dogs and children with special needs. Being autistic, I am not quite sure why all the neurotypical people seem to think this “connection” is so unusual. It just IS. Bianca seems perplexed at how Rocco responds to me and at how I always seem to know what he is feeling and trying to say. While any observant person can figure out their pet’s nuances, Rocco and I seem to be able to communicate on a subtle, nonverbal level. It works pretty much the same way as the nonverbal communication, the emergence of intuitive insights, that occurs when I am caring for my patients. Feelings arise. Vibrations are sensed. No interpretations are required. This is why the appropriate responses, verbally and in actions, can be made. I don’t know how else to explain it.

This connection is not unique to me and Rocco. This is how it is for fellow audies too. Why? Because people with autism, and their pets, do not have the same judgments and subjectiveness as a neurotypical person would. Outcomes are based on synergy, not on egoism. Neurotypicals tend to react and respond to things from within their own biases. Autistic people, who tend to not get the social clues most the time, react and respond to things based on past experiences of what is and isn’t appropriate. But between the world of people with Autism Spectrum Disorders and the animal kingdom, there exists a rationale that cannot be defined or explained. Like I said previously, it just IS.

We never trained Rocco to ring a bell or bark by the door when he has to go to the bathroom. I can just see the look in his eyes. When I ask him if he has to go potty, either the deliberate blinking of the eyes or a bob of the head means “yes”. It never fails. When I am giving Rocco strict discipline, all I have to do is calmly tell him what isn’t correct without yelling “no”. It is much more effective. While these interactions may certainly exist between neurotypicals and their pets, there is something extra going on here, something on a deeper level. I should add here that Labrador Retrievers, by nature, are very smart. Because of Rocco's good nature, we plan on having him trained as a therapy dog. I can only guess that this same level of understanding would exist if Rocco was another breed or was another animal all together. My guess is that there would be. A fellow audie who owns several dogs says that this is the way it is for her and all her canine companions.

If you’ve ever read Dr. Temple Grandin’s works regarding how she can interpret animal behaviors, then you have seen a glimpse of what I am trying to describe. She can get into the animal’s head. Therefore, she can determine what the needs and the concerns of the animal are. In this way, she can come up with the best solutions. It’s what makes her a genius at what she does as an animal scientist and designer of ranches and slaughterhouses. I can never claim to be a “dog whisperer” or a master of beasts. I am just somebody, like my fellow audies, who pays attention to the subtleties in the air through which esoteric communication exists. For me, there is nothing to decipher, nothing to figure out; it just IS.

Neurological Complications With Autism

Although many people consider autism to be a neurological abnormality, many of us audies do not agree. We say that it is what it is, and we just are the way we are. Still, we could have neurological problems along WITH being autistic. Yes, people on the lower-functioning end of the spectrum will probably always be debilitated. They may never be verbal or never be able to live independently. Yes, there are audies that have Fragile X Syndrome, mental retardation, or even seizure disorders. In this article, I will not be focusing on this group. Instead, I will mention things that people with autism experience that are less obvious at first glance. Recently, I have met fellow audies and parents of autistic children who shared with me the neurological problems they deal with. I identified with their concerns very well because I too have neurological problems which, in and of themselves, I would never have associated with autism at all.

When I was a young child, my physical developmental delays were quite noticeable. Over the years, though, I’ve learned to compensate for them, somewhat. At the age of five months, I had suffered from salmonella food poisoning. The 108° fever and the three weeks I spent in intensive care nearly took my life. Even the doctors told my parents I would not live. Although everyone considered it a miracle that I did live, I point the finger at this illness as the main cause of my neurological problems, and perhaps the autism as well. During the rest of my childhood, I learned that I would need to wear glasses the rest of my life because my eyesight was very poor. Uncorrected, my right eye sees 20/200 and my left eye 20/400. Although I have a 20% hearing loss in my left ear, I suffer from chronic tinnitus in my right ear. This baffled the audiologist I visited recently because she said that tinnitus should happen on the side with hearing loss, not the normal side! My arm and hand strength and leg coordination were noticeably weaker on the left side. Also, I had a chronically weak voice and poor fricative pronunciation. On top of everything, I have always had some sort of sleep disturbance especially from my junior year of high school on to the present day.

I was definitely a funny-looking and certainly odd acting creature when I was a kid. I wore Coke-bottle glasses until I was in 11th grade, which is when my parents finally found a doctor who was willing to prescribe contact lenses for me. I didn’t learn to sit up or walk during the normal times a toddler should be able to do these things. I also wore a brace between my shoes to correct my foot flare. I was the last one in my kindergarten class to learn how to tie his shoes. Because of my coordination problem, I had a habit of tripping and falling whenever I ran or played. Some of those falls resulted in me either breaking my glasses or needing a trip to the emergency room to get stitches. In order to strengthen my left side and improve my coordination, my parents started me in piano lessons when I was four years old. The years of piano training that followed definitely made a difference. They helped mostly because my teacher was quite a demanding, old-school classical pianist. I had seen a speech therapist when I was in third grade, and again when in my senior year of high school, to improve the quality of my voice. As for my hearing and my sleep disturbances, they are today the way they have always been. My brain has become accustomed to ignoring the chronic high-pitched ringing in my right ear, and my circadian rhythm is permanently set for me to be a lifelong night owl.

Because of my developmental delays and stunted growth, my parents would take me to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia every year for evaluations by an endocrinologist. When I was twelve years old, my annual visit yielded the discovery of a heart defect. I had a leaking aortic valve. Now the yearly visits switched gears from monitoring my stunted (but within normal range) growth to checking on the adequacy of the pumping of my heart. At the age of eighteen, the leak in my heart valve finally became so severe that I needed open heart surgery to correct it. As for my lack of coordination, I’ve learned to compensate over the years. Even though all those years of piano lessons as a child made significant improvements, you will still occasionally find me walking into people, furniture, and doorways. Because it’s not so debilitating these days, I just laugh when it happens.

Other health woes have challenged me throughout the years as well. From April 10, 1995 until October 15, 2009, I suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I remember the exact dates because you never forget the day you wake up with a life-changing illness, and the only thing that successfully brought it to an end, once and for all, was the occurrence of a tragic event. On October 15, 2009, I woke up suffering from a stroke. My entire right side was paralyzed from head to toe. The stroke was caused by a brain hemorrhage. Even though I spent four days in intensive care, I surprised everyone, including the neurologist who treated me, by being back to my old self again, with full-strength and energy, just six weeks later. Not only was I back to my pre-stroke self, I was back to my pre-Chronic Fatigue Syndrome self! In addition, all of the voice weakness that I still  had for all these years was also gone! I did battle with bouts of insomnia, which is common for many stroke survivors to have for several months after a stroke. The insomnia was treatable with melatonin, and it eventually disappeared all together on the one-year anniversary of the stroke.

Because I recently found out about other people with autism who have similar neurological problems, I am wondering if there is a direct connection between such neurological conditions and autism. The neuropsychologist who confirmed my autism diagnosis with the Wechsler Intelligence Scale in July of 2008 agreed that my illness as an infant must have damaged my nerve system. One particular child I learned about recently has developmental problems almost identical to mine, yet never had such an illness. In that light, I feel that it would be appropriate to place such developmental problems on a parallel spectrum. On the lower end you have such things as Fragile X Syndrome, while on the higher end you have conditions milder than what I have. This would probably make a great subject for a survey or study.

Compromising, & Other Things That Work

This article was written just for my fellow audies to read. As the sign on the treehouse reads, “No neurotypicals allowed.” However, you are invited to sit and watch from a distance, as you might learn something about the world we audies live in.

Compromising is a fact of life that anybody, audie or neurotypical, must deal with eventually in order to have a happy relationship. Whether it is a relationship between you and your parents, you and a coworker or boss, or you and a spouse, sometimes you just have to do what they ask in order for the team to accomplish its goals. Yes, we do like when things go the way we want them to, regardless of what other people think or feel. It’s not that we are selfish or obstinate, like the neurotypical world thinks we are. It is because of how very strictly we arrange the rules of our routines, the rules we live by. If you’ve read my post entitled “How I Pretend To Be (Somewhat) Normal,” you would see clearly how I sometimes just have to manipulate the rules in my head. When I give my autism seminars, I am always approached by a parent or caretaker about what to do about that loved one of theirs that doesn’t want to budge from their “bad” behaviors or ways of doing things. I guess it comes with age, but eventually you come to the realization that it is better to make the members of your team or family happy so that they can feel and know that you can contribute to this world. You just have to tweak the rules a bit.

So how does this happen? You know how you make rules in your head for every little thing? Your bathroom routine must proceed in a certain way. The way you start up your workplace for the day. The way you drive your car. The way you arrange your piles of papers. Everything follows a set of rules that only you can understand. Well, the key is this: In between each rule you have to insert a space. For example, as a rule I always shave right before I take my shower. Usually, I go right from shaving to taking my shower. Over the years, I’ve learned to insert a “space” between these two tasks, a space where interruptions and a change of plans is ALLOWED to happen. This lets me break away from the bathroom routine momentarily to do some yard work or feed my dog before going back to shower and continuing on with the routine as usual. This works so much better when your wife is adamant that the grass needs to be cut TODAY. Interruptions and change are inevitable. Compromising and doing this differently really are possible. Then you will receive lots of pats on the back for having been able to be more “flexible”. But you know, and so do I, that it was possible only because you were able to rearrange the rules!

I know that many of you have to take certain medications such as Prozac or Adderall. Anxiety and feeling that your mind is all over the place really take a lot out of you. Without these medications, it is hard to function, especially when you are expected to do so around a group of people. I know it’s not something you are proud of, but it’s also not something to be ashamed of either. Look at Temple Grandin. She has to take Prozac before she feels capable of being able to get in front of an audience to give one of her great speeches. But what if there was another way of doing things so that you don’t HAVE to take prescription medicines? In reality, there is. Even though you take only half the normal dose of those medicines because of how sensitive you are to changes, you may be just as responsive to the positive changes that the alternatives have to offer. I know this to be true firsthand. Although I’ve never taken prescription psychoactive medicines, I have taken herbal supplements instead. Did you know that 750 mg of St. John’s Wort is just as effective as 80 mg of Prozac, and has far less side effects? That’s what a study showed that was published in the November 1996 issue of the Journal of Natural Medicine. There are similar herbal alternatives to other types of medications as well, and it is up to you to try them.

But there is something that helped me far more than any herbal supplement. Well, actually a combination of things. First, you really need to go to a chiropractor and to visit him or her on a regular basis. If I go more than two weeks without seeing my chiropractor, my ability to communicate coherently, my concentration, and my hypersensitivities become worse. It is by having my nerve system free from interference, interference that happens when bones shift out of alignment and affect how nerves work, that everything in my body, including my brain’s ability to think, work better. In addition to this, I listen to my instincts, my own intuition. Many of my own successes in life are due to this. For many of us, this is not easy because we tend to doubt ourselves and become anxious very easily. What helped me to “tune in” more is practicing a formal type of meditation. By practicing meditation seriously, I can look past all the waves in the mind that make us feel “less than” and see what’s going on behind the scenes, so to speak. It’s a more insightful, “spiritual” if you will, way of looking at the big picture. These are ways in which I have helped myself to navigate the oftentimes confusing and exhausting neurotypical world. Even when reason and advice from neurotypicals seem to work against me, listening to my intuition ALWAYS produced the better outcomes.

Above all else, remember that everybody really DOES want the best for you. People aren’t out to “get” you. It may seem that way, more often than not. I know because I lived with this feeling for so many years. I had to see past this belief, and to see past my own feelings of inadequacy, before life really started handing me some great moments. There may be a troublemaker or two you encounter along the way. But on the whole, NOBODY is out to get you! There really is greatness within you and around you, even if it doesn’t seem like it. Sometimes you just have to sit there with pen and paper and start writing things down before you recognize them. Sometimes you just need to have a counselor or a mentor who points these things out for you. I myself see a very caring social worker who helps me to see things in a better light. It’s all a matter of perception, and we audies tend to feel like we are the bad guys in a good world; we are the cause of others’ misery. Everyone is indeed responsible for his or her own behavior, from the neurotypical who is a less-than-understanding crab to the person with an Autism Spectrum Disorder that points the finger at the fact that he is autistic when he makes a social blunder. If you want more insight into any of the topics I briefly discussed in this article, let’s get together and chat. All of these things that work that I mentioned here can certainly be topics in themselves for future articles and conversations. I’m an audie just like you, and I’m here to help!

Adverse Behaviors In Autism

Every time I teach my autism seminar, I have at least one parent approach me with questions regarding adverse behaviors in their child, wondering how to deal with them while frustration mounts. The answer is always the same: “Be understanding, and be very patient.” By “adverse” behaviors, I am not saying that the autistic child or adult is being purposefully bad. “Adverse” simply means that the behavior is not congruent with the neurotypical (normal) ways of doing things. Stimming, outbursts, lack of eye contact, “headbanging” routines, defiance, anxiety, hypersensitivity, and panic attacks are all examples of adverse behavior. I like to explain that adverse behaviors happen only when the autistic person is expected to act like a neurotypical. In other words, they’re just part of the daily life of a person with an Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Most autistic people will have only one or two adverse behaviors. I believe my two are hypersensitivity and “headbanging”. These behaviors are only made worse when people such as my dad, when I was a child, and now my wife try to correct them. It’s just not going to happen! Headbanging is not to be confused with stimming, and I will explain the difference later. Stimming is the repetitive flapping of hands, hitting oneself, rocking, making annoying sounds, and so on. Stimming was a very common behavior in me when I was a child. I would bang my head against the headboard of my crib and constantly want to go full-speed in a rocking chair or rocking horse. I would also sing, horribly, at the top of my lungs while rocking. Stimming was how I found comfort in the world since everything and everyone around me seemed so intimidating. During my late teens and early 20s, there was defiance. I had no motivation to follow any path, to make any friends, to get anywhere in life. This is what I call my period of “shutdown”. I knew I was different. I felt that nobody cared because nobody understood. So I just wanted out. Thank goodness for one or two adult friends, I never did self-destruct. But it was definitely a sad and lonely time.

One thing that seemed so unusual to many people was the fact that I felt right at home when in front of a crowd. Maybe it was because I had been playing the piano in recitals ever since I was four years old? Whatever the reason, I displayed practically no anxiety at all. I loved assignments in college where I had to prepare a presentation to give in front of the class. I felt right at home playing the role of “teacher”. On the contrary, though, I do experience some level of nervousness when giving instructions on performing a particular skill, such as CPR. I feel most comfortable when I am disseminating knowledge. Because anxiety is very common in people on the spectrum, it is usually dealt with by taking psychoactive medicines such as Prozac and Zoloft. Even though people on the spectrum need only half the typical dosage, I must, as a doctor of natural healing, blow the horn of advocacy for safer ways of dealing with anxiety such as herbal alternatives (such as St. John’s Wort), meditation, yoga, energy medicine, and chiropractic care (particularly upper cervical specific).

Hypersensitivity is also extremely common among people on the spectrum. Hypersensitivity doesn’t just mean being more affected by the things people say and do, oftentimes taking too many things personally or the wrong way. It also has to do with sensory input and how it is processed, such as the lighting and sounds in a room, the feel of certain textures, fragrances, etc. If there are too many hypersensitivities at one time, sensory overload occurs. For me, this would cause me to go into “shutdown” mode. When I was a trainee on the ambulance squad, I was definitely hypersensitive to all the activities going on around me during an emergency situation. Therefore, I would always shut down and freeze up as if I didn’t know what to do. I certainly did know what to do. I just couldn’t multitask until I forced myself to learn how. That’s what overload can do to an autistic person, usually causing them to either have a panic attack or an outburst. My hypersensitivities are much more pronounced and devastating when I am unrested or unbathed for a whole day. Lack of sleep can make me fidgety toward things that normally wouldn’t bother me, such as listening to music or the TV, or even having my wife hover around me. Also, I could never ever leave the house for the day unless I’ve had a shower first. Otherwise, I feel as though I have swamp scum covering me from head to toe, and even letting my wife touch my hair freaks me out. Normally, though, I handle sensory overload by turning things off, such as the radio, TV, lights, or by ignoring the (unintentional) aggressor. Unfortunately, though, when I was working in the busy hospital setting during my days as a Respiratory Therapist, this meant that I would shut off my pager without even realizing it if I was concentrating too much on another task, such as taking a patient’s vital signs.

As for the “headbanging” routines, I define these as any task that is repeated over and over again without any purpose or without any results. While stimming equals repetitive actions, “headbanging” means actual tasks. Since making social and business-related contact with people is perhaps my weakest area in life, I figured that I would certainly get somewhere as an entrepreneur if I write a great brochure and send it out by direct mail to prospective clients. In the eight-plus years I’ve been making brochures, mailing lists, spending hundreds of dollars on postage, rearranging my website, and making poor attempts at cold calling, I never received a single client through these efforts. This unproductive dead-end of doing the same thing over and over again with absolutely no results was THE final straw that caused Bianca and I to start drifting apart. It was my sincere wish to pursue marriage counseling that finally brought me to the discovery that I was autistic, thereby forming a strong loving bond between Bianca and me.

So, in the end, how are parents and caretakers supposed to deal with adverse behaviors? How does Bianca deal with mine? She just does. There is no “right” or “wrong” to correct. Adverse behaviors are just part of being autistic. Such mannerisms add color to the world, as they are part of the autistic person’s nature. It would certainly benefit the autistic person to receive counseling from a psychologist or a social worker. I myself see a social worker simply to have somebody to talk to who can help me see things from a neurotypical perspective in a nonjudgmental way while accepting myself, autism and all, as I am. As I stated earlier, adverse behaviors happen only when an autistic person is expected to act like a neurotypical. It is necessary for the parent and caretaker to take away this notion of changing the person with autism. The autistic person needs to be accepted as they are. They may never be exactly the person you want them to be. But they will certainly be comfortable being themselves.