Once I worked in a kindergarten where there was a boy who had autism. But the most difficult thing for him was that he did not eat properly.
His mother said that every day, every meal, it took him more than one hour to eat, still not eat much. So not only was it hard for him to have food in school, it also was difficult for him to eat at home as well.
When I talked to his mother about his eating habit, his mother looked so tired of his behavior. They came from India originally; I told his mother where I am from and asked her if she would like to try a Chinese way to help her son have more food. She was very glad to hear that and would like to try.
As a matter of fact, there are quite a few ways to help children to eat in TCM, but I only told her the easiest way to do. That is to put her hand over her son’s bellybutton and just massage 36 times in clockwise twice a day.
It is simple, and there is no any side effect to do so.
A few days later, I noticed that boy began to eat a kind of hard bread when it was time for food. My colleagues and I were so surprised to see him sit there and eat quietly. After one piece, he would like to have another piece. To see how he reacted, I pretended to put away the bread, and he was standing up to try to get more bread.
His mother was very glad to tell me that it was much easier for her son to eat now.
I also observed that this boy began to get close to other children, still very timid, but he was trying to play closer to other children now. Before, he always stayed away from other children.