Background of ASD: hereditary factors
This homeopathic intervention is crucial in the ASD or autism epidemic. At this point and in the near future, many people will be forced to accept a struggle with life as autistic adults. This future tidal wave of maturing autistic population will soon overwhelm not only emotional and financial resources of families, bur Medicaid and state social services budgets. What is really at the heart of this debate? What has caused autism rates to grow so much in less than 20 years? The idea that it is just better diagnosed is preposterous. The epidemic is real and cannot be explained by saying the diagnosis skills of doctors suddenly improved in the late 1990s. A logical suggestion is that something changed in the 1990s. I have no doubt that one trigger like the number of mercury-based (thimerosal) vaccines given to children tripled in the ‘90s is one reason. But there is a lot more to it. Why don’t all children then react to these vaccines with autism? Can we predict who is more at risk? Homeopaths have the answer already: the common symptoms of ASD all point to the syphilitic inherited miasm. The homeopath can therefore expect that mercury-laden vaccines are a great trigger for all those children with a syphilitic family background (Footnote), increasing the risk for ASD. Mercury is one of the greatest anti-syphilitic remedies! I read another remark from a well-meaning allopathic physician. She remarked, “This epidemic cannot be due to the sudden activation of a mystery gene in hundreds of thousands of children.” She does not know how she actually missed the boat. Homeopaths know that a dormant and latent miasmatic state (such as the syphilitic one) can be woken up by many triggers. So in fact, these triggers do activate the dormant gene! And vaccinations are not the only triggers: emotions, life style, diet, puberty, menopause, pregnancy, physical and mental triggers can activate latent miasmatic states anytime!

Often I am asked, “Are there certain remedies in homeopathy that are more specific for autism?” As usual we treat children with autism, not autism, so any of our remedies can be indicated. There is not one autistic child “the same” than another. Our remedy selection is truly based how your ASD child is different than anyone else. Common symptoms of ASD don’t help us finding the solution for your child. But I can tell you that some emotions suffered during the pregnancy are far more prevalent than others: fear or fright and forsaken and feeling of abandonment suffered by the mom in pregnancy are very prevalent emotional triggers for the making of a challenged child. When you only look at the amount of remedies we have under these two emotions, then you see that the homeopath’s is a difficult one, not to be left in hands of those that are lazy, suffer from megalomania and lack of personal insight.

Footnote: Expressions of the syphilitic miasm can be on the mental, emotional and physical plane.

Some examples (does not include everything!):
Family history of mental disease such as alcoholism, depression, suicide, violence towards humans and animals, bipolar disorder, drug addictions, violent behavior in children, such as hitting, biting, cruelty, etc. The syphilitic mind is also dull, sullen, morose and mentally heavy. There are many diseases (names) referring to destruction on the physical plane: Alzheimer, ALS, Multiple sclerosis, S.D. or spastic dysphonia, all the auto immune disorders such as rheumatoid arthritis, colitis ulcerosa, Crohn’s disease, Hashimoto’s disease, etc. In other words any disease that involves destruction of tissues is syphilitic in nature. So in the family history of an ASD patient, we can and will find expressions of this miasm on any of the three levels in one or both parents and family. The consequence: the homeopath must choose as the simillimum a remedy that has great anti-syphilitic characteristics. Any other remedy will be simply palliative, even worse suppressive, giving false hope to parents and homeopaths alike. For more reading about this: see my books Human Condition Critical and Hahnemann Revisited.

Triggers not asked for in allopathy and, alas, often not in homeopathy: the intra uterine emotional trauma
I will use an excerpt of my upcoming book, An Advanced Clinical Guide for the Homeopathic Professional Practice. Obviously for the purpose of this article I can only give you an idea, the tip of the iceberg so to speak. It is one of the answers related to the question, “Why do I have a challenged child?” There is one remark I want to make before you continue reading. I have the greatest empathy for any suffering in this world and for children, the future of our race I go always a step further if that is possible. These intra uterine questions that are an absolute must if the mystery of so many challenged children will be resolved can evoke many feelings of guilt and grief in parents who consciously and unconsciously already struggle enough with such emotions. It is certainly not my intention to increase any parents’ suffering, on the contrary. And words on paper can look cold and indifferent and that is the furthest of my intentions. When I teach this material worldwide, I accentuate to students that they must use empathy, love and compassion and explain to these parents that such information, although painful, is of the utmost importance in helping their child. And I never had any parents who would refuse me such info. An added advantage is that the mom, who was subjected to an emotional trauma, will often need the same remedy as their child. Although the mom’s expressions are obviously different than her child, they are belonging to the same syphilitic miasm and to the same trigger, be it grief, fright, forsaken, etc. Many moms have delegated such emotional trauma to their unconscious but such action does not equal to a disappearance of the emotional loaded issue.

Often, painful and shameful memories are hiding in our unconscious, as a “shadow,” which, like the Trojan horse, may be unleashed as soon as this high feeling complex is slightly touched upon. It is the inferior and less commendable side of a person. The shadow is “he who follows behind,” our personal demon. The shadow corresponds to a negative ego-personality; it embraces all those characteristics whose existence is found to be painful and regrettable. After instants of appearance of his shadow man often says, “I was not my self; I was beside myself.” And when the storm has blown over he likes to think that this strange “figure” has disappeared altogether, never to return. But this stranger (the shadow) merely returns to the unconscious, where it awaits its next opportunity to disturb the artificial peace of the mask. An autistic child is often a gift on many unexpected levels: but to no one more than to the mother since it will be the opportunity to look at herself and improve on every level. It is fascinating and greatly enjoyable for the homeopath to see both mom and child improving on the same remedy. If anything the bond between mom and child is strengthened as they go through the same journey of healing. Who else than such mom could understand and love her child so much?

The latest allopathic findings
In my local newspaper, The Santa Fe New Mexican, August 24, 2005, I read an article, “Researchers: Fetuses feel no pain until final months.” The report appeared in that month’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association and the study was done by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. It had all to do with the abortion issue of course. It was based on the fact that, “while brain structures involved in feeling pain begin forming much earlier than the seventh month of pregnancy, research indicates they likely do not function.” To be fair, not every fetal-pain researcher agreed with these findings.

I do not need such study if I see how the fetus is influenced from day one of its existence by psychic pain endured by the mother. The homeopath sees everyday examples of such challenged children whose mother suffered from an emotional stress (forsaken, grief, deception, hearing bad news, etc.). Every homeopath can attest to this psychological “infection,” and if psychological pain can be felt and transferred from the mother, so can physical pain.

On the question, “How was your pregnancy,” the mom most likely will only concentrate on the physical aspect of her pregnancy (unless she was strongly depressed of course). If no physical problems such as nausea, threatening miscarriage, bleeding, mal position of the fetus, etc., were present, everything will be declared OK! Yet the most important triggers, the mental/emotional ones, those that can explain the unfortunate birth of a challenged child, remain unclear and uninvestigated not only by the allopaths, but equally by homeopaths.

It remains a mystery why allopathy in the year 2007 is still far removed from seeing a link between the mother’s emotions and the repercussion on the fetus, something that has been confirmed for a long time by Traditional Chinese Medicine and even more by homeopathy. My guess is that allopathy has difficulties confirming such link because it tends to confirm its diagnoses with blood tests, X rays and other technical findings but obviously, such measures will not gauge the fetus’ emotions. I bet they would like to do pet scans of brains of pregnant moms to see if such maternal emotions change the fetal brain picture. But no such action has been taken yet. And what if allopathy finds deformities on such scans? Will that result in a therapeutic intervention? Of course I would not be surprised if allopathy would start giving tranquilizers and anti depressants to the pregnant mother.

Because the gynecologist and pediatrician never ask such “emotional” questions to see if there can be transference of emotions from the mom to the fetus, mothers never even think about it when the physician and homeopath ask them, “How was your pregnancy?” “Just fine,” they will say. And unfortunately, too many homeopaths will take such answer as an end to that question, missing therefore one of the most important pieces of the child’s simillimum: the true NWS or trigger. If the homeopath wants to find the simillimum as an investigator, he needs to go to the place of the trauma. Any good crime detective will go to the place of the crime to find out what is “unusual, peculiar and outstanding,” conducting an A153 investigation!

The following questions are important because they are often linked to ailments from, which in turn belong to important remedies that fit the picture of the challenged child (ADD, ADHD, ASD, OCD, etc.).

• What was your first reaction when you heard you were pregnant?
• Was the pregnancy desired by husband and or family?
• Was your husband mostly at home or did he have to travel for work? Any estrangement from family/friends during pregnancy?
• Any real conflicts with husband/family?
• Was there physical and/or mental overwork during pregnancy?
• What emotional events took place during pregnancy? For instance, fright, grief, hearing bad news, etc.
• Was there a change in the family dynamic during the pregnancy?
• Cravings and aversions during pregnancy? How was the birthing process? Emotional stress during breastfeeding?
• What was physical condition and age of parents at time of conception?

I will only elaborate a little about the first question so the reader can understand the importance of these questions.

Was the pregnancy planned? Was it the right moment? What was your (mom’s) first reaction when you heard that you were pregnant?

The first person in line to alter the psychology of the pregnancy’s mental/emotional state is the mother. The first reaction triggers initial changes, since she is the first one hearing the news that she is pregnant or at least correctly assumes she is when she feels the changes in her body. Pregnancies are not always planned and often come as a surprise. Often the very first reaction might be, “Oh, not right now!” I am just not ready for this because of…school, job, moving, relationship not going well, physically and emotionally overwhelmed and probably another hundred reasons. I can not make up the reasons people chose for thinking this way. I heard “reasons” like, “My pregnancy with you was the reason my career never got off the ground.” Here is another story: “I got pregnant on the pill (yes it can happen) and I was not sure I wanted this baby. I did not like the changes in my body and I was very doubtful I could be a good mother since I had a history of bad temper.” It is interesting to see that this “mental/emotional” rejection of the fetus was followed by an attempt of physical rejection: in her last three weeks she was hospitalized with toxemia (BP 220/190) and the baby came out in a big gush of green water. “The placenta had died and had not been nurturing him for weeks (he was 5 pounds at birth). The baby refused the nipple and cried constantly, so I went in a total state of postpartum depression in which I was afraid I would hurt him (indication for Sepia!!).”

Some women did not like to be pregnant in the first place. Some did not like to become “fat” as they thought they were ugly. Others were fatigued and exhausted throughout the pregnancy. I had a mom who said she “resented to be tied down in bed, and to feel trapped as she wanted to go somewhere,” but to her frustration she could not do anything but lying bored in bed. Another pregnant mom felt that her unborn child was “like an alien sucking all the energy out of her.” These are all emotions that will be carried over to the unborn fetus.

The thought, “I can’t be pregnant now” means outright rejection of the fetus’ first days of life and even an unconscious refusal of the mom to bond with the fetus. It might even get worse when the pregnant mom is plagued by strong pregnancy nausea and vomiting (hyperemesis gravidarum), which might evoke negative feelings towards the unborn baby. The homeopath should ask the exact first emotional reaction of the mom. Was it joy, anger, frustration, shock or maybe sadness because you always wanted to be pregnant because you wanted to give your parents a grandchild and now they are deceased? Now this happy news of being pregnant can accentuate and resurface the buried grief, which makes the mother long for what could have been--happy moments with her parents (homesickness). Sadness might also overshadow the happy news because the relationship with the husband is not going in the right direction or the young woman is caught in an unmarried situation.

There are infinite other examples from the practice. What most people don’t understand is that even if the emotion is only present for a few days, even hours, the impact on the fetus can be great. It is easily seen in cases where there are two or more children in the family and only one is challenged: The homeopath should immediately investigate these pregnancies and look for the emotional trigger where the child was born challenged! Compare the different pregnancies and ask the mom, “What do you think was different in this pregnancy that resulted in this challenged child?”

The importance of these questions is of utmost importance to determine a possible mental/emotional factor that could trigger an ASD child. But without a syphilitic miasmatic background, such trigger will not create an ASD situation.

In the next paragraphs I want to discuss some of the issues that seem to come up. I can see how homeopaths can be confused, how could patients not be more confused when they get such different information regarding homeopathy. When I taught in 14 different universities in India last year, the biggest complaint I heard from students was, “Why do we hear so many different approaches to homeopathy?” It should not be as long as homeopaths adhere to the Organon and Chronic diseases and if they want to add something new, it should be based on our natural basic Laws. Like there is only one form of Traditional Chinese Medicine, there is truly only one form of classical homeopathy. Alas, many homeopaths call themselves “classical,” but further investigations of their claims and in the way they practice homeopathy contradicts this firmly. Let’s remember Mark Twain’s immortal words: “Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you want.” For this purpose I have written on my web site an article, “How to choose a homeopath.” I don’t want the reader to fall in the claws of unscrupulous practitioners who trample all the basics of homeopathy and have insufficient or no knowledge, no matter what title they have behind them. Read my article and question your homeopath before you spend in vain your money and even worse, before your hopes again are dashed.

New Diseases Require New Remedies?
Bogus! Homeopaths who claim such things are forgetting their first principle: the homeopath does not prescribe for the name of a disease but for a patient with a disease (quote Kent!).

What is certain is that homeopaths nowadays have more difficulties with the horrendous suppressions of allopathic interventions, but this happens with any disease name for which patients are taking allopathic meds. So now we could not treat pneumonia or asthma or eczema because people have created “new” pneumonias, asthmas, etc. through the intake of allopathic meds? Or we don’t have an answer with our “old” remedies for diseases like SARS, the Bird Flu, AIDS, Chronic Fatigue, the 4 Corner Disease and any new name allopathy has come up with? Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which is 5,000 years old does not need to invent “new” acupuncture points to treat modern diseases. TCM doctors treat these modern diseases as effectively as 5,000 years ago and if Hahnemann would come back now he would be highly successful.

For any well-trained homeopath, it should be easy to determine the miasmatic expression of any allopathic disease name. Of course there are those homeopaths that do not believe in the miasmatic theory, which is a grave mistake. Let’s take the example of that illusive ASD or Autistic Spectrum Disorder. Some of the expressions (not all are mentioned) can be:

• Avoiding eye contact
• Withdrawal from people
• Indifferent to other people
• No facial expression
• Slow learners/monomania
• Aggressive: breaking, biting…
• Mute (sometimes all their life)
• Echolalia or robot-like voice
• Freezing in position or rocking
• Change in routine is disturbing
• Rapid head growth
• Fragile X syndrome: 5% have a defective X chromosome
• Does not babble, point or make meaningful gestures by 1 year of age
• Does not speak one word by 16 months
• Does not respond to name
• Does not know how to play with toys
• At times hearing impaired

All these expressions are linked to the syphilitic miasm in homeopathy!

This means that autism can only be triggered in a child that has a syphilitic miasmatic family background (see before)! This should be taken in account when allopathy bombards these children with vaccinations that are mercury based! In other words, a homeopath can predict what child is at risk for ASD when they get these vaccinations. This leads to the next topic: the Use of Isopathy!

Is Isopathy homeopathy?
I have written several pages about this issue in my book, Achieving and Maintaining the Simillimum.”

Isopathy is a word derived from, isos, the same, and pathos, disease referring to the maxim, that “the same cures the same.” This is NOT the same as our homeopathic dictum, “Like Cures Like,” Here we talk of similarity, not the same! Isopathy came even more into vogue when Hering in 1833 started proving the first nosodes. However we need to see clearly what Hering had to say about these nosodes: “…they never succeed to cure but only ameliorating diseases…” Nosodes are truly curative only when they are administered based on the totality of the characteristic symptoms like any other remedy! But at least nosodes are proven homeopathically. This isopathy took even a greater turn for the wrong with Lux, a vet in 1833. Hahnemann reacted to these assertions when he stated that, the use of miasmatic material without potentization was crude isopathy, whereas its use in potencies is within the realm of homeopathy. The major difference between an isode and a homeopathic nosode is that a homeopathic remedy is proven on healthy people so that its symptom picture and therapeutic range are greatly expanded. The idem (isopathy) can only be used for the cure or prevention of the same condition it causes. Isopathy, without the principle of the potentized remedy, is an extremely dangerous method. Once an isopathic substance is dynamized, it becomes a pure homeopathic agent and must be used accordingly to the cardinal principles of homeopathy (proving it before using it!). In summary, nosodes are not isopathic but homeopathic because they are proven and prescribed on the totality of the symptoms. The conclusion of Hahnemann, Hering, Dudgeon and so many eminent homeopaths was that isopathy’s use was limited and not curative.

Personally I have never used isopathy in my practice (and probably never will) as I have seen no need for it. “Clearing the effects of vaccine damage” sounds like the drainage techniques used by many French homeopaths. The homeopath should keep in mind that there is only one simillimum for the case and that it will “clear” and “drain” all it needs to do without having to precede these remedies by detoxifying or clearing agents. This isopathy comes to the attention of parents because here and there a homeopath claims that the child was improved or cured by isopathy. When an isopathic remedy cures it was only because that remedy was by chance homeopathic to the case! But let’s not imitate allopathy when they see one of our remedies cure for instance a case of rheumatoid arthritis with a certain remedy and now they think it should cure the majority of their rheumatoid cases. This is called, “prescribing on the name of the disease.” If you think that your child was injured by the mercury in the vaccination (which is quite possible, (in fact there is no reason to keep on giving poison to children) than you must see if indeed Mercury symptoms appeared after such vaccination. Everyone can read the Mercury proving symptoms in our Materia Medica. Otherwise rather look for another trigger (see my intra uterine questions) which are most likely more prevalent!

Some more comments
From some posts I received from Kari, I see that my name is evoked on different issues with some homeopaths claiming that “I said so and so”and“How I am wrong and how they disagree.” It would be nice from those who comment in this matter to contact me personally and ask if indeed what they write is what I mean or ever said. Here are some examples.

(It was a discussion about the use of intercurrent acutes).
There is the claim that I (Dr Luc) says, “acutes change the constitution.” Let’s be clear with what true innate constitution stands for. I am not referring to the chronic remedy that is given for a layer but to the true inherited miasmatic make up or as Jung refers to the “mandatory hereditary response pattern. (You can read more about “True Constitution in Hahnemann Revisited or my new upcoming book). What I really say is that when you are in the process of treating someone for a chronic disease, and an acute situation shows up needing an acute intercurrent (according to A73, in other words a REAL acute disease with moderate to severe symptoms and a clear etiology) that Hahnemann tells us to check FIRST before repeating the chronic remedy IF the picture is not changed after the acute event is over (for all references see my book Achieving the Simillimum). If it is changed you must change the chronic (constitutional layer) remedy, this is NOT the constitution of the patient. If the chronic picture after curing the acute has not changed you can continue with your previous simillimum. If the picture has changed, you must look for the new simillimum. And that second part in which such homeopath claims, “if an acute arises all I need to do is repeat the chronic (something that others claim too), I must say to my regret that such statement requires a renewal of Hahnemann’s homeopathic studies. Anyone can support his theory (that magic sentence, “It is my experience”—what about Hahnemann’s opinion and if yours contradict Hahnemann completely?) through a few examples but on closer inspection, this theory does not hold up as it sins against all homeopathic principles. It IS amazing so many homeopaths adhere to this wrong assertion of having no need for acute intercurrents! Let’s take an example: a patient is treated for chronic depression that requires Aurum but now is suffering from a severe flu requiring Gelsemium. So repetition of the chronic depression remedy (Aurum) according to these homeopaths will cure this Gelsemium flu? How does that work? On what principle or aphorism? What happened to the aphorisms of DISSIMILAR diseases (A 36-A40) and to our first law, Like cures Like? Everyone in the clinic has confirmed Hahnemann’s observations that a stronger dissimilar disease (acute or chronic) suspends and postpones (not cures) the old chronic disease (A38). Every homeopath has observed this (Kent included). I would not want to fall in the hands of a homeopath who wants to give my chronic grief remedy when I suffer a third degree burn! Of course you must first see if you truly have an acute disease (see A73) and not an exacerbation of a chronic miasmatic state. Those situations need indeed a repetition of the chronic remedy, since they are only acute expressions of the chronic disease. From my teachings worldwide I have seen this confusion everywhere! I wish that these homeopaths would first thoroughly read the Organon and Chronic Diseases and tell me first what is wrong in any of these great works. Saying that this is an old bible like I hear some claiming is just too easy: if you think so, state clearly what aphorism is wrong and why. I am sorry to bore the lay people on this forum but I see worldwide the confusion homeopaths have and how they, after distorting Hahnemann’s words, go on with distorting my own words or those that truly adhere to homeopathic principles. I can only imagine how confused the patient becomes.

When another homeopath, like so many do, says in another post, that an acute disease will either pass or kill the patient and that we are rarely dealing with lethal acute diseases there is truth and non truth in it. As a medical doctor I had to face life threatening conditions on my trips to Africa and Sri Lanka and certainly we see even here enough serious acute conditions, albeit too little. Obviously many escape our attention since they go straight to the ER. Of course the homeopath needs to treat enough serious, non lethal acute diseases where he needs to suspend chronic treatment and apply an acute intercurrent. And acutes can also evolve to a new chronic disease that now will suspend the old chronic disease if it is dissimilar and stronger than the old chronic disease (A38). Another possibility is the formation of a complex disease, where two chronic diseases can now combine, each of them aiming at a different location in the body. There are many patients coming to us with such complex diseases.

Here are some more remarks (off the mark), again repeated by many ignorant practitioners worldwide: “That the potency is not nearly as important as finding the remedy:” this is another mystery to me and truly these people must have their eyes closed and don’t care about the unnecessary suffering their patients go through! What happened to sensitive people (there are plenty!!) -A281? What happens when you treat a patient with severe chronic diseases with real pathology present with high potencies/doses? Please read Aphorisms 275 through280 and see if you disagree with Hahnemann and why. In serious cases, you will hasten the patient to his death bed if you don’t take the potency and dose and repetition in account. The simillimum is the right remedy, right potency and right dose, repeated at the right interval, nothing less! What happened to individuality, another one of our sacred laws? And finding the right remedy is the easiest part of the homeopathic practice: the further management shows how good the homeopath really is.

Some state, “I do not use intercurrent remedies.” So they never use nosodes (chronic intercurrent remedies to clear miasmatic states or for the other 10 indications nosodes have) or acute remedies when needed according to A 73, which are called acute intercurrents?

I hope the reader got some more insight in the unfortunate epidemic proportions of our challenged children, not only limited to ASD. You can visit my web site and read more in many free articles on www.drluc.com

On my web site you can also find an article about, “How to choose a homeopath.” It is helpful when you need to make a choice for yourself or a loved one.

The definition of hero for me are the thousands of parents who seek out the truth, who spend their last possessions to see happiness in the faces of their children and to those people who develop a personality, which is only possible when they are called by an inner voice. It is not morality, neither necessity that induces a man to choose his own way and so to climb out of unconscious identity with the mass. Most people follow convention. The hero for me is the one who has a vocation: he who has vocation hears the voice of the inner man. The gift of the challenged children is often that they helped their parents on the path of individuation. I pay my utmost respect to all parents of challenged children. And some like Kari take a leading role. May we all be grateful for her objective and loving voice in the world of ASD.
Luc De Schepper, MD, Lic.Ac., C.Hom