Hypnosis and Autism, a new project

As so often happens, the greatest of projects can start from the smallest of things; a chance meeting or in this case a random bit of dinner conversation. Over the Christmas holidays, my wife and I were having dinner with a couple we have known for close to 20 years. The wife, Sheila S., runs a school for children on the autism spectrum. She is also a well-respected consultant to both the parents of autistic children and to their teachers. During the course of the evening the talk turned to “her kids.” She mentioned that she had started doing something she called “Relaxation Time.” She would have the kids lie down and she would quietly tell them to “let your feet go to sleep, your legs, etc.” Those of you already involved with hypnosis will recognize as I did that she was unknowingly doing a basic fractional relaxation hypnotic induction. I was instantly hooked, and I asked if I could observe one day and she agreed.

While watching Sheila go through her Relaxation Time routine with the kids I observed that some of the kids were truly drifting into a very light trance state. I immediately saw the potential to do some good here if I could devise a way of developing a deeper trance state in children whose sensory perceptions and mental processes can be profoundly different from my own.

After much consideration I settled on a combination of an abbreviated traditional hypnosis induction and my Audio-Homeopathy techniques along with with subliminal reinforcements (to avoid over stimulation). I also needed to determine what would be best to use as a first hypnotic suggestion. I began to observe the classes on an ongoing basis and saw the first and foremost need these children had, at least in this environment, was energy management. The minds of these kids can sometime be overwhelmed by situations and sensory inputs that a person not on the spectrum might easily miss or ignore. I soon had a test program recorded and we began our first trials.

The first suggestion/tool I choose for this program was a relaxation trigger that the child could use on themselves or have an authority figure such as a parent or teacher use for them. I chose the words “Relax Now” as the trigger with the suggestion that: when the child says out loud or silently “Relax Now” he instantly relaxes “to an appropriate level.” Appropriate level is a key point. This suggestion is not an on/off switch to be “flipped.” It’s more like a throttle that the child can use to rein in his or her response to mental or physical overstimulation.

Right from the very first day the results were promising. About an hour after going through the Relaxation Time program, one of the students began to become agitated. Sheila S. used the Relax Now trigger and there was a small, but noticeable de-escalation. I honestly did not expect to see any results until the children had been through the program several times and was very pleased and more than a little surprised to see a visible result the first day. There was a noticeably calmer mood to all the classes after Relaxation Time that day. Sheila S. also reports a generally calmer demeanor in all the participating classes throughout the entire six months of our trial period.

I can’t emphasize enough that Relaxation Time is not a program to control children; it is a program for children to use to help control themselves. Others can assist, but when others use the trigger words the child is always the final arbiter of who they will respond to and how much they will respond.

The benefits of a program of this type are not limited to children on the autistic spectrum. I can see where it could be useful for children with ADD or any child that sometimes gets overwhelmed or has issues with focus.

Over the last six months we have had 25 students participate in the program and after several small modifications I am happy to say the Relaxation Time program is now ready for public release. I am currently working on the new website and I will soon have a link here on this page to where Relaxation Time can be purchased and downloaded. In the meantime please feel free to use the Contact Me link on this blog to ask me any questions you have.

Thank you very much,

Wes Graham C.C.Ht.