Originally Posted by Sparky Farkas

Where would anyone find the money to conduct the research and exhaustive double blind studies on herbs, which are available to everyone, that big pharma can invest into mega profit products that they create? See the point? Some alternative medicines may in fact work and work better than prescription meds but the problem is that no one would fund millions of dollars of studies to prove something you can get darn near for free is equal to or better than a manufactured drug.

I believe some alternative medicines work. Some don't. Same with prescription drugs.

Another problem is that prescription drugs often do not cure, they simply mask the issue. They are palliative. Often they work fast because they only address the symptom. Alternative medicine may heal and cure the underlying cause of the medical issue but alternative medicine often works with the body or helps the body act naturally. That usually takes longer and we aren't a culture of people who like to wait for anything.

Originally Posted by NoSocialism.com

It costs nearly a Billion dollars to bring a new drug to market, and since you wouldn't have a lock on the formulation for 10 years, you would never be able to recoup your investment.

I think it's also important though for every parent who has a child with Autism, to get their kids tested for Food Allergies. A lot of kids who have autism are allergic to Milk and Wheat, my son is allergic to Milk. Sometimes what you may think is "Acting Out" is simply stomach pains.

Originally Posted by NoSocialism.com

My son has Autism, He's almost 4, and we treat him with a combination of ABA Therapy and Treatments that we've learned from the Sonrise Program. One of the things that I've found is that he will either speak when he's either in a very good mood and very free to express himself, or when he's in a high stress situation. As an example, once I was driving with my Mother In Law, and she was trying to get him to eat a Banana (he only eats Pureed foods), so he got overly exacerbated and cried out DA, DA ,,, DA, DA, as if to say, "Save me from this crazy woman!"
Most of the time though, I think he feels that he simply doesn't have the need to speak, so he won't. Sometimes after working with him for a half an hour or so, I might get him to whisper a word or two, but usually it's hard to get him to talk. I try not to put too much pressure on him though, because I know of other parents that have pushed their kids too hard, and they ended up regressing, so I try to maintain a good balance of learning through play, but I can tell you that it is definitely exhausting work, raising a child with Autism. I've had to cut back my hours to only 3 days a week (my wife works with him on those days) and my wife had to cut back her hours to only 2 days a week, so it's been very hard both emotionally and financially on us.
I feel bad for those who end up in this situation and don't have the resources that we have.