Parents Share Their Autism Story At Holistic Approaches Seminar

Posted by Katie in Blog, Health & Wellness, Lifestyle | Comments Off on Parents Share Their Autism Story At Holistic Approaches Seminar

Jul 08, 13

John and Anna Van Dyk are parents of a young son with Autism.  During this spring’s Seminar: Holistic Approaches: Autism, they shared their personal story – which you can watch below.  I highly recommend watching it, as their experiences seeking ‘help’ for their child, beautifully reflected many of the themes that emerged during the seminar.

When many health and wellness practitioners work with patients, they do so holistically.  Holistic means that they treat the ‘whole person’.  So instead of giving medicine to terminate a symptom, practitioners seek out root causes, examining everything from emotions to environment to family habits.  This creates lasting health and more positive change.  But how can this kind of approach help children with Autism?

As many of the practitioners at the seminar pointed out – Autism is not a ‘disease’ that can be ‘cured’ with medicine.  So, ‘treating’ children with Autism is more about working with ‘whole people’ and learning to see children with Autism as ‘whole’.  Practitioners who work from this philosophy can offer parents more than just treatments.  They can help them find peace.

According to John and Anna, it was after seeing meditation expert, and founder of The New Earth’s Children Centre,  Michelle LeRoy that they were able to experience their own shift, learning to accept their son instead of cure him.  They found it amazing that throughout all their attempts to change their child, what they really needed to change was themselves.  After this personal reflection, they found that acceptance of their son’s difference put them on the path towards repairing a relationship they hadn’t realized was broken.

Practitioner Marcela Grant as well as a number of other presenters at the seminar spoke at length about the emotional sensitivity of Autistic children.  Marcela proposed that children pick up on their parents complex emotions with incredible accuracy.  Many autistic children feel the frustration and disappointment in their parents and it is this dissonance that can actually become a basis for many communication problems.  Anna speaks to this in her story claiming that after coming to accept her son, they were able to ‘rebuild trust’ and it was after that, that their relationship blossomed.

‘Treating children as though they have a disease, can create feelings of rejection, especially in children who don’t feel broken inside.” Explains energy worker Christina Haverkort.  Christina and her Partner Michelle Scrimegeor-Brown work with Autistic children energetically to help ground them better into their bodies, making it easier for the children to stay present.  “But the overall approach is always to affirm their mission here – to remind them that are here for a reason too.  We encourage these very sensitive children to take responsibility for whatever ‘soul work’ they have to do in this life, and that is very validating and empowering for them.’

The message of these practitioners throughout the seminar was certainly amplified by Anna and John’s touching endorsement.  “The personal shift from ‘treating’ our son, to working with him to be his best self, has completely changed our household and brought peace to both John and myself”, said Anna.

Thank you to all those who attended the seminar, and you can check back here for additional video from the event as well as interviews with some of the practitioners.  If you are interested in attending a repeat of this event, please click on the button below and we will add you to a contact list.