Our 11yr old daughter has moderate autism spectrum disorder, anxiety, ADHD, moderate global learning difficulties, plus motor and vocal tics which began about 6months ago, probably due to anxiety. At worst the tics are almost continuous, opening mouth until lips crack, full body extension, jumping and huffing out until feeling faint, and unusual noises. First, we tried weekly Bowen therapy, and the tics would decrease but then they would come back. After 3 months of tics, my daughter's specialist recommended increasing her dose of Fluoxetine (from ½, to 1 per day) to help with anxiety levels. I was very reluctant to consider other medication, as my preference is help her as naturally as possible. We heard of Sam through friends whose child had success with tics after seeing her. Our first session was interesting, as my daughter does not convert the words people speak into pictures in her mind (the way many people do), and spoken words often stress and confuse her if they are not familiar. Sam was extremely open and honest, and she had a very good interaction with my daughter which can be difficult at times. Sam's usual way of working clearly wasn’t going to work, but Sam adjusted to the situation perfectly. Sam did her own research and for the next session she came back with aromatherapy oils and used reflexology on my daughter's feet. It was a very calm treatment, but I didn’t expect it to have made a difference to the tics. However, the day after this second session the tics were much less and the following day, they stopped completely. This was 4-5 weeks ago now, and my daughter is still doing extremely well. If something stressful, exciting or different happens, the tics reappear occasionally but nothing like before. Sam has a lovely, gentle and confident manner about her. Should the tics return badly, I will definitely give Sam a call to work with my daughter again.
Waiau Pa, New Zealand
