Treatments

Kids on the spectrum have an unusually strong attraction to water. As a result, drowning tends to be the leading cause of accidental deaths. We strongly recommend that you invest time into teaching water safety to your kids and make this a priority:
Here are some websites with helpful tips:

https://ibcces.org/blog/2019/04/12/water-safety-autism-spectrum/

https://tacanow.org/family-resources/water-safety/

https://intheswim.com/eguides/water-satefy-for-children-with-autism.html

Good nutrition is essential to everyone’s well-being. This is especially true if the individual has allergies and/or sensitivities to food. Many parents report improvements in behavior when they remove inflammatory foods from the child’s diet:

This is the one I would have started with if I had to do it all over again. The effectiveness varies from person to person but worth looking into:
https://braintreatmentnewportbeach.com/autism/

This video discusses the MeRT approach in greater detail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O77ldZJAck

This is a teaching method developed by parents who refused to give up on their child. Their results were a result of hard work and dedication. Luckily for those of us who followed, they have distilled much of their wisdom down for us.
https://autismtreatmentcenter.org/

This is one of the main stream approaches. However, many feel that there are downsides with this approach. Here is why.
The ongoing controversy:
https://www.todaysparent.com/family/special-needs/is-the-most-common-therapy-for-autism-harmful-or-helpful/

This typically goes hand in hand with Physical Therapy (PT) and Speech Therapy depending on the individual’s condition. This typically focuses on helping a person get through daily life activities. More detail can be found through the link below:

https://www.spineuniverse.com/treatments/physical-therapy/occupational-therapy-questions-answers

Speech Language Pathologists and others have found that OT and/or PT helps stimulate the inner ear. The same part of the body that processes sound is also connected to the part that senses movement so there is a synergistic effect when you do speech therapy within a few hours of the physical activity.

closely related to OT but generally more focused on gross motor skills and helping a patient move their body.
Here is a guide to the differences in the two approaches.
PT vs OT:
https://www.mcphs.edu/about-mcphs/news/occupational-therapy-versus-physical-therapy

This is very helpful as well with the right provider:
http://www.hanen.org/About-Us/What-We-Do/Early-Childhood-Autism.aspx

Many individuals report individuals responds positively to music and many ASD individuals have a gift for music. One of the more interesting approaches we’ve seen in drum therapy. Our kids loved participating in this event:
https://chazzross1.com/home

We have yet to try this but it looks promising. Other who works in the field of treating kids on the spectrum have told us they’ve seen good results with some kids.
https://www.covd.org/page/vision_therapy

This is but one example of a center that treats visions therapy. We have not used their services personally.
https://www.visioncenter4kids.com/vision-therapy-optometrist/autism/

This approach has been shown to be effective with some kids. We have not tried acupuncture, only acupressure. Our child found it soothing
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28530441/

Temple Grandin made this approach famous with her machine. We’ve found wrapping in a weighted blanket to be highly effective at helping a child with ASD regulate.

This is another approach we have yet to try personally but have heard can help some kids.
The official view is skeptical of this approach:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craniosacral_therapy