It is a less recognized disease initially. Autism is a complex neurological disorder detected in children in their initial three years of life, which is result of impaired functioning of the brain, expressing itself in the form of inability for social and communication skills, impaired intellectual faculty and hence affecting the development of the child. The exact cause behind autism is not yet fully understood.
Estimated 1.5 million American children and adults, over 1.7 million children in India and about 0.2% of the world population is affected by this disorder, affecting all races almost equally.
Causes of Autism:
     There are structural and functional changes in the brain in the patients with Autism. However, the exact cause for these changes are not fully understood.
Triggering factors for Autism are:
- Genetic predisposition
- Exposure to environmental chemicals
- Intake of some drugs, medicines during pregnancy
- Metabolic imbalance
- Vaccinations
Symptoms of autism:
     Autism can present with a wide spectrum of symptoms, also in varied severity, mild, moderate to severe.- Marked deficits in communication and social interaction
- Language impairment
- Preoccupation with fantasy
- Abnormal behavior, such as repetitive acts and excessive possessiveness to certain
objects such as car, doll, keys
- Intellectual impairment
The common end symptoms could be some or many of the following:
- Annoying obstinacy in behavior
- Poor verbal expression, uses gesture to point out for his needs
- Repeating words or phrases
- Laughing, crying without apparent cause
- Prefers solitude
- Throws Temper Tantrums
- Difficulty in social interaction with his age or elders
- No eye contact while communication
- Unresponsive teaching
- Failure to perceive fears of danger, leading to jumping from high place, playing with pointed objects
- Physical hyper-activity or under-activity
- Underdeveloped fine motor skills
- Not responsive to verbal instructions with normal hearing
- Spinning objects
- Inappropriate possessiveness to objects
- Over-sensitivity or under-sensitivity to pain
- Screaming and shouting out of proportion
- Repeats the same words (echolalia)
It may be noted that autism affects the developmental of the intellectual faculties. The autistic children are able to express love and affection and also can respond to love.
Diagnosis of Autism:
     There are no laboratory tests for autism. The diagnosis is arrived at by clinical evaluation and a detail developmental case history of the child. Psychological evaluation may be carried out by a professional with expertise in handing such cases. There are several Autism screening tests to conclude the diagnosis.
Homeopathic Treatment of Autism:
     The Homeopathic approach to handling chronic disorders being totalistic and aiming at treating the genetic tendencies with a well strategic management, offers effective treatment for autism and related disorders.
The homoeopathic case evaluation of the child with autism incorporates the detail study of the family history of serious diseases, which are known to form the genetic ground for autism. The case analysis also takes into account impaired functions in terms of behavior, social skills, communication, speech, tantrums, etc.
The homeopathic medicines for autism are not specific but it deals with individual case . . The exact medicine, its combination with other support medicines, its dose and repetition depend on the case history. The medicines are essentially safe and absolutely non-toxic. Other related problems are already mentioned in the book titled "The Problem Child and Homoeopathy" By- Dr.A.K.Gupta, Published by B.Jain Publishers.

Suggested Investigations :- Routine Blood, CT Scan Brain