NAET And Autism: Allergy Autism

For those of you who have been following my autism posts, you probably know where I come from and what my biases are.  I believe that Autism, true Autism, is caused by a larger proportion of gray matter to that of white matter in the brain, causing a higher level of synapses firing within the brain.  Such a condition then causes the brain to become overwhelmed by various stimuli, hence the behavior associated with children with autism.

This being said I can continue with my post.  I found a "cure" or collection of treatments listed for autism in the Natural Cures app for my iPod Touch.  One of which was the Nambudripad's Allergy Elimination Technique, or NAET.  According to the complier of this resource, they have had first-hand experience with the success of the technique, with a report coming soon on the clinical trials.  

So, as one that professes to have an open mind, I thought I would check out the treatments and their history.  Apparently the treatment has to do with "allergies" to various vitamins, sugars, compounds, etc. that can be cured by using various acupressure and acupuncture treatments to be resolved, usually within a year by attending treatments once a week.  Delved into more deeply, it seems that the "allergy" is determined by holding pills in the hand and pulling on the hand to see if resistance is met.  This is inline with kinesiology, a technique that has been questioned by the medical field for it's scientific accuracy.  Here are links to the NAET website for a positive description, and a link to the Autism Diva's blog for a more critical view.

I'm not going to comment on the accuracy or inaccuracy of the NAET claim, though I think from my biases presented earlier it may be clear what they may be, but rather on the idea behind Allergy Autism.  Allergy Autism is a theory based around the idea of external stimuli causing Autism, and the elimination of such stimuli curing Autism.  Now, I've mentioned my beliefs about this before, but let me clarify my position. 

Autism is caused by increased brain activity.  This brain activity manifests in the behavior patterns common in all Autism patients, with various stimuli causing the reaction.  Generally it is caused by hypersensitive senses (sight, touch, hearing, etc.) which feed too much information to the brain.  

The logical jump from this to "Allergic Autism" is not as wild as one might think, though it is often misunderstood.  I fully believe that some foods can cause the brain a lot of additional stimuli based on the reactions the child has.  This does not mean that the food/allergy is causing autism, but rather acts as a catalyst for the behavior to occur.  Autism is still related to the brain function, while a food, bright light, flickering light, etc. can cause a meltdown when paired with the brain's wiring.  

Perhaps I'm just trying to explain away the successes of those people who put their autistic children on special diets.  It could be, though I think the logic behind the connection is too strong.  If there are any neuropsychologists out there that disagree with me, I would be quite interested in your input.  Neuropsychology is something I have little practical education in, and rely on articles and news reports to get a better picture.  

So, in coming full circle, I do believe that "allergies" or other stimuli can trigger the symptoms of autism, but I don't believe they are the cause of Autism itself.  So as to the accuracy of the NAET program, I'll let you read the two descriptions and judge for yourself.  As for me, I've removed the natural cures app from my iPod, and I in