Autism is a brain function disorder resulting in impaired social interaction, difficulty with communication, and restricted and repetitive behavior. These symptoms start before a child is three years old and affect four boys for every girl.

It can be very severe, or present in milder forms of what is called Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), such as Asperger Syndrome.

Autism can have many triggers and causes. It also has a genetic component.

Current research suggests that it is related to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and fibromyalgia as well as hyperactivity, sharing in the causes and underlying biochemical changes.

The age that the trigger occurs, whether the person is male or female, genetics, and likely other unknown triggers can cause it to reflect anywhere along the CFS/ADHD/ASD spectrum. In addition, just as there are many ways to blow a fuse, there are many possible triggers that can, given the proper genetics, result in autism.

Because there are multiple biochemical changes occurring in autism, it can often be successfully treated using a number of different approaches (individually or in combination).

Sadly, autism treatment has fallen into the usual controversy that occurs when natural treatments are helpful and gain popularity. Your doctors, though well meaning, may recommend you avoid any natural treatments.

Ignore these doctors. This simply reflects the brain washing of physicians against any competition to our current monopoly of drug/surgical treatments.

Family counseling to help adapt to the situation and to help the child improve function is recommended.

A remarkable new option is a special acupressure technique called NAET, which eliminates sensitivities.

After seeing a young autistic girl go from nonverbal to being a chatterbox with this treatment, we explored this further and found this was common. Our foundation then funded a study using NAET in autism. By the end of 1one year (100 simple treatments), 22 of the 30 autistic children in the treatment group were back in regular schools (as opposed to none of the 30 in the untreated control group).

We recently submitted this study for publication. For more information, and to find over 12,000 NAET practitioners worldwide, visit www.naet.com.

There are a host of dietary, nutritional and other treatments that may also help. An excellent group that can help and provide additional information is Defeat Autism Now, or "DAN." Visit them at www.defeatautismnow.com.

Three groups of the world’s leading experts on autism, CFS, and tick-borne infections are now meeting yearly in Sonoma, California to explore these illnesses, their causes, treatments and interconnections. They have been offered a large grant from a very generous and loving couple to explore these issues and develop effective treatments.

I am honored to be a part of the CFS research team.