American Chinese Medical Exchange: Autism

Conference Proceedings

Biomedical Advances of Autism 2012

American Chinese Medical Exchange Society

On August 26, 2012 the American Chinese Medical Exchange Society www.acmes.net in collaboration with McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School hosted a one-day forum entitled Biomedical Advances of Autism 2012.  This event introduced a rich agenda of speakers, comprised mainly of researchers and medical doctors who practice traditional western and traditional Chinese medicine with individuals who have autism. 

I found this conference to be both thought provoking and inspiring.  I attended the conference with friend Dr. Jane Richardson, ART-BC, who is an art therapist and colleague at Lesley University.  Jane and I traveled to Beijing, China with in 2009, where we were invited to both present our work at the International Creative Arts Therapy Conference.  In result of our experience in China, we have a co-written book chapter, which will appear in an edited book to arrive later this year.

The current conference, Biomedical Advances of Autism 2012, allowed the opportunity for the audience and its speakers to consider scientific and real basis for working with children with autism, through the very ancient and very holistic lense of traditional Chinese medicine.  The book Chapter that mentioned that Jane and I have collaborated on exemplifies this view in its relation to the expressive / creative arts therapies – a multi-sensory whole body engagement for the child with autism. 

The keynote speaker at the current conference was Dr. Martha Herbert who shared her new book, “Autism Revolution.”  In her keynote talk Herbert spoke of the timeliness of the conference and the importance of listening / working with / examining the whole child – a view that Traditional Chinese Medicine has long employed.  With respect to traditional Chinese medicine – considering the meridians and the five element theory in relation to the many aspects of life – and how the child with autism operates may seem foreign to many, however, it is an ancient practice that has been used for centuries.  Herbert’s talk seemed to consider the treatemetn of autism with a  holistic view – Herbert considered neurology while also looking at the impact of stress, biology, and the environment upon the child.

What stood out the most to me was when Herbert began to note the sharp rise in the autism diagnosis. She suggested that individuals with autism may be trying to tell the work something – like “the canary in the cole mine,” she said…. “should autism be the world telling us about the human race?”

I think that regardless of what happens with individuals with autism, that it is important to listen with heart, hands, voice, and ears – engage the whole body and listen with the whole body – as we may not all speak or understand the same language, we might as well be open to exploring other options if we want to learn form one another… 

There is something to be said for exploring traditional Chinese medicine for children whit autism.  There is published literature on the use of acupuncture,  traditional Chinese herbs, and traditional Chinese movement practices (tai chi, qi gong) in helping children with autism manage some difficulties - yet more needs to be explored.  As a music therapist and expressive arts therapist - I see that there is a correlation between Chinese medicine and the arts - and can quickly identify helping properties for the child with autism.  I look forward to reading new literature on this topic and writing and exploring such applications in my own work.

Thank you for the American Chinese Medical Exchange Society for hosting such a wonderful event!