The Horse Boy - A Journey into the Shaman's Realm to Heal Autism

[Arrowwind]

I just watched the most wonderful moive and if you know anyone with Austism or anyone who cares for an autistic child this movie is worth the purchase price. It's also on netflix.

Its about a nonconventional couple who have a very difficult to manage autistic son at about the age of 4. He is prone to huge temper tantrums often filling over 4 hours a day, isolation from others, and incontinence. Really a fairly typical Autistic scenario for many with this condition.

The Dad had been a journalist and had spent time in earth based cultures and had seen how shamans had cured some very difficult diseases in Africa. So he got this idea that they, the whole family, would take a journey to meet and be treated by the shamans of Mongolia. They ended up visiting the Raindeer people in the far reaches of Mongolia, known for having one of the most powerful shamans in the world, traveling part of the way on horseback, husband, wife, autistic son and travel guides the film documents their travels and the very personal thoughts and challenges that having such a child presents.

Its a remarkable story that has a VERY SUCCESSFUL ENDING resulting in a huge increase in the quality of life for them all.

The movie/documentary is called The Horse Boy.

[Limor Wolf]

Hi Arrowwind, Boy do I love synchronicities, I am just reading the book. I found it on sail and thought that is a great story written from an interesting point of view of an out of the box thinking father. This is the journey of Rupert Isaacson, His autistic son Rowan and wife Christin. I am only at the beggining, but I agree it's a remarkable and fascinating story which helps the reader to get closer to the autistic world and what makes those children tick, what can be done to advance them (and how they advance us). lovely and important. I didn't know there is a movie. I join with your recommendation, Thank you.

[WhiteFeather]

Looks like a Wonderful movie Arrowwind, just watched the trailer. If i may........Wanishi

We are all from the same tribe.........
<~~~~~~•= W.f- ≈•~~~~~~>

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=cYkT_GndKtE

[Corncrake]

So pleased this has been posted here. I haven't seen the documentary yet but read the book a few years ago and was engrossed in it. I found it a very honest account of the emotional roller coaster of a father's relationship with his autistic son. I don't imagine many people could make this particular journey but it does demonstrate once again the effect of nature and communing with animals on mental health. I am looking forward to watching it.

I cannot remember exactly when but there have been several references on various threads on Avalon to 'The Woman Who Thinks Like A Cow' about an autistic woman - Dr Temple Grandin - who used her autism to understand animals and subsequently improve animal welfare. There was a wonderful documentary from the Horizon series about her.

[Arrowwind]

Limor, what a prize winning photo you found!

Horse therapy is used for many developmental problems in children...there is magic between children and animals and all animal contact should always be encourged. I've had patients over the years who greatly benefited from horse riding and other pet theapies that were not autistic, ... like ADD, but especially motor neuron issues like Stephen Hawkins has, and cerebral palsey, and balance issues from accidents etc.. They make special saddles to pack these kids up on to the horse and they love it and kids that are constantly crying or screaming very commonly just stop. So this Rowan in the movie was getting healing from mulitple directions... including that little boy who went on the trip with him.

[Tesla_WTC_Solution]

Op thank you for this.

I have a five year old autistic boy named Paul; well, right now the state has him.
He has many of the problems described in the top post too. (So does mom).
Anyhow, I wanted to know more about animal Therapy.

I've BEEN to Mongolia and am now wondering if these reindeer herders could help more autistic children.
My friend Alan Wheeler used to work in Mongolia, not sure what he is doing now, but he worked also with these reindeer herders (helping them re-establish breeding rights with the siberian herds) in Mongolia and lived with them in order to finish his anthropology master's thesis.



if it is true that this can jumpstart the brain into new pathways of development,I would go back to Mongolia to save my son.

thank you for this video and the reminder that there is hope in unlooked for places.

[WhiteFeather]

I cried when i saw this awhile back. Now i smile. This is awesome. Autistic Children are truly special and unique human beings indeed. Please watch this.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=34xoYwLNpvw

[Arrowwind]

Posted by Tesla_WTC_Solution (here)
if it is true that this can jumpstart the brain into new pathways of development,I would go back to Mongolia to save my son.

thank you for this video and the reminder that there is hope in unlooked for places.

I would not get all hung up about help being in Mongolia. They went there because they were told that that is where the best shaman is... but I bet there are other best shamams to be found closer to home and profound and exceptional healing perhaps could be found in your own area once you open your sensors to finding it.
Go to Mongolia only if all the signs point in that direction.

[Arrowwind]

Posted by WhiteFeather (here)
I cried when i saw this awhile back. Now i smile. This is awesome. Autistic Children are truly special and unique human beings indeed. Please watch this.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=34xoYwLNpvw

this is a great story and the most important words on the film are "not to give up and that your inner voice will find a way out... mine did."

I worked for a while as a private duty nurse to a little girl who had severe developmental problems. The doctors thought it was caused by CMV virus that the mother had during pregnancy. The child had been through hell just trying to keep her alive. When I went on to the case she was about 2 years old, did not walk, talk, cuddle, eat or seek attention from her parents. She didn't like to be touched. She layed in the crib most of the day with a feeding tube attached. The parents had been told that she would never learn anything so they never tried. Mom would sometimes go into tears. Dad would pick her up daily hug her and put her back in the crib.

When i got there I studied her as hard as i could trying to open my inner senses to who she was. After about 3 or 4 days I discovered that the doctors were wrong. I knew this by a certain look she would get in her eyes, I dont know how to describe it but I just call it the fleeting look of intelligence, if even ever so fleeting. I went on that.

I stayed on the case for just over 2 years and I called in multiple therapapists, and consults with developmental doctors, argued and fought with her general practitioners, trying to convince them that just more work was needed and to keep writing the prescriptions.. we would do the rest. Eventually Therapy was continous and was just an ever present practice once I got a sense of how to do it according to the different diciplines that were offered. Medicaid will provide only so many sessions a week no matter what so I had the therapist teach me everything they could.so eventually We did not go to therapy. We lived and breathed therapy. By the time I left the case this little girl was hugging people, starting to eat food, sitting up on her own, crawling at rapid pace, responding to toys, and had taken up to 10 steps, pulling herself up without assist to a walker. I knew she would be cruzing with with it soon as her strength developed.

The biggest hindrence to her case was the belief that was instilled in the parents by misguided doctors that she would not ever do anything. Once I saw that the parents had reversed their beliefs on this and had developed good observation and assessment skills of their daughter I knew that I could leave the case. The parents, once they understood how they had been misguided had emersed themselves full force into her growth and developement. Since they didn't speak english and had only elementary education themselves it took a lengthy educational process with them. There were many considerations beyond her developmental issues also. The child had complex respiratory problems and gastro-intestinal issues. All advancements had to syncronized in developing parental skill levels for care.

Several years later they sent me a photo of her. Tall and slim yet with muscle development that hadn't been there before, sitting up in a swingset, laughing, with her tracheostomy tube gone, She looked beautiful. Although she still didn't talk she was communicating with sign and had become a very loving child. I wish I could have seen her do sign language. They were just starting that when I moved out of state.

[Limor Wolf]

Such beautiful posts on this thread, I enjoyed reading them all. I can't comment much at the moment, just wanted to post this link here to a thread I once opened as Corncake mentioned The autistic Dr, Temple Grandin - the woman who thinks like a cow. The link to her very recommended documantry is posted there. Cheers

https://projectavalon.net/forum4/show...nks-like-a-cow