inda Scotson, founder of The Scotson Technique (TST) has boundless positivity. Considering the sudden death of her husband five months before her son’s

birth, and then receiving the news that her newborn son suffered extensive brain damage from blood incompatibility, many in her situation may have been disheartened or would have given up completely. However, nothing could dampen Linda’s belief that good things lay ahead. She reasoned that brain growth was complex and far from fully understood; therefore, her son Doran might still have the potential to walk and talk.

Linda believed that her own research and hard work would hold the key to unlocking Doran’s potential which would eventually allow him to lead a full and enriched life. As a result of his mother’s determination, Doran--now 31 years of age--has become a remarkably able and charming young man. He has a diploma in child care, is currently studying art, and has sold seven paintings from his first art exhibition. He recently ran a half marathon to raise money for charity. The beginning of this long journey of discovery is recorded in Linda’s two books, Doran: Child of Courage and The Other Child.

Linda’s daughter Lili also inspired her work which benefits more and more children with neurological problems, including autism, each year throughout the world. When Doran was born, Lili was nearly two years old. Lili was a radiantly happy, confident and sociable baby; she sat up early and seemed to have advanced fine motor control. The only blight on Lili’s life was that she suffered from constant colds and

chest infections. When she was seven months old, there was a local epidemic of hepatitis. In an effort to avoid further health complications, Lili was given the Hepatitis B vaccine. In the first few days following the vaccination, Lili was listless as though sickening for another cold, but she seemed to recover and the matter was forgotten. However, two months later when Linda took Lili to the hospital for a routine check-up the doctor observed that Lili was not yet crawling at nine months and said she

By Tracey Clewer

Tracey Clewer is the mother of four. Her daughter Tatijana regressed at the age of two, and has had issues similar to those found in ASD kids. With her first career in accountancy, Tracey currently works as a personnel development trainer and Life Coach. She also provides support for families with ASD kids, and is passionate about holistic healthcare. Her knowledge of Linda Scotson and TST have come through Tatijana, now 18, a patient of Linda’s for over 18 months. During this time, Tracey has noticed Tatijana’s body shape change, her levels of energy rise, her confidence grow, and her ability to communicate improve. She is becoming a much more flexible thinker, has developed a wonderful sense of humour, and understands the impact of her behaviour on others. Most excitingly, after having had complex and uncontrolled epilepsy since infancy, Tatijana has been completely seizure-free for over five months. 

How The ScoTSon Technique Can Help Children With Autism

Linda and Doran

As a result of his mother’s determination, Doran--now

31 years of age--has become a remarkably able and

charming young man. He has a diploma in child care, is

currently studying art, and has sold seven paintings from his

first art exhibition.

would record her development as “slow average.” Linda found this news surprising. She wondered what could have caused Lili’s development to slow down, but the doctor could offer no helpful answers.

As life moved on for Linda and her family following Doran’s birth, Linda’s initial work to rescue her son stretched into long hours spent researching potential ways to help him. During this process, Linda began to suspect a link between neurological and breathing problems. To continue the journey more effectively, she began a PhD program at University College London. Gradually, she also discovered that of the children who had neurological problems-- cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, ADD, epilepsy or even dyspraxia and dyslexia--many breathed abnormally.1,2,3 As Linda studied, she was able to put together a jigsaw puzzle of facts taken from the scientific literature of psychology and medicine.

When Linda looked for evidence of abnormal respiration in children diagnosed with autism, she found that many had shallow breathing with a tendency to hold their breath and hyperventilate.4,5,6 Linda saw the possibility that a combination of abnormal breathing and a brain injury might result in a reduction in the increased oxygen levels a child’s brain needed to match the increased demands of brain growth during development.7 She then began to find links between the seizure activity so frequently seen in autistic children, abnormal breathing patterns, and stress, a known factor in increased oxygen consumption.8,9,10 In essence, she found that abnormal breathing had a direct relationship to neurological problems and when both existed, could produce a block to more normal development. As Linda fitted the pieces together, she began to see a much more encouraging picture of recovery following neurological injury.

What causes the abnormal breathing? After a long and painstaking study of the existing scientific literature, Linda had collected the evidence she needed to support her theories. It appeared that a wide range of different kinds of stress, including maternal stress, could temporarily compromise the amount of oxygen available to a child’s brain before birth.11 Moreover, when cerebral oxygen decreased, in order to preserve core cerebral function, the foetal circulatory system diverted oxygen away from the developing lungs and diaphragm

and into the foetal brain. The result appeared to be a weakening of the child’s respiratory organs at critical stages in their development.12 If these events took place in the last trimester of pregnancy, foetal breathing activity, which is vital for normal lung growth, would also be compromised. The possibilities arose that more prolonged or repeated stress upon the developing brain’s oxygen levels could weaken blood flow through the tiny blood vessels bringing oxygen to more vulnerable areas. Linda hypothesized that even if direct damage was not caused, these areas might still be compromised, rendering them less resilient to viral or toxic stresses after birth. Such stress factors might include vaccinations.

Furthermore, it became increasingly clear that all parts of the brain affect breathing,13,14 so that damage to any part of a child’s brain during early development might have an adverse influence on the development of respiratory control.

By now Linda was also becoming increasingly worried about Lili. She had walked and talked late. She wasn’t adventurous like other children; people said she was “too good.” Lili’s chest infections persisted; she had pneumonia and later on, contracted the measles. Whereas other children appeared to make a full recovery after such events, Lili seemed to lose a little more of her former self after each bout with illness. She fell over easily and her speech often seemed muddled. Lili also developed nervous finger movements, was shy and even disoriented amongst people. She became hypersensitive to sounds and showed signs of tactile defensiveness with her scalp and skin. She began to be preoccupied with food, and never seemed to know when she was full up. She gained weight steadily during her teens and by her early twenties she was a solid square shape. Her posture was poor, her head tilted back, and when she was not twitching her hand, her movements were self conscious and wooden.

Linda began to wonder whether prenatal stress arising from the blood incompatibility that caused Doran’s brain injury, and the stress to herself while pregnant due to her husband’s illness, could have affected Lili’s respiratory development. She also wondered whether these stresses might have left some structural weakness in Lili’s developing brain, making it more vulnerable to any

subsequent viral infections and perhaps to vaccines as well.

In the case of a child with cerebral palsy (CP), it is apparent that normal movement is important for normal respiratory development.15 Therefore, damage to the motor cortex must also affect respiratory development in a child with CP. However, in the case of a different set of symptoms such as Lili’s, Linda now wondered what parts of the brain might be involved, and if such symptoms vary according to the exact location and extent of the injury, or more correctly “injuries,” since additional symptoms manifested over time.

How does this evidence impact children with autism?By going back yet again to the scientific literature, Linda found that the abnormal sensory, behavioural, and processing challenges common in autism are linked into activities under the control of three specific parts of the brain: the thalamus, the limbic system, and the cerebellum.16 The functions of these areas include both emotional control and the organisation of breathing and can be briefly described as follows:

The thalamus relays sensation, spatial sense and motor signals to the cerebral cortex. It also regulates consciousness, sleep and alertness and is responsible for relaying information on all senses other than smell.

The limbic system supports a variety of functions including emotion, behaviour, long term memory, and smell.

The cerebellum plays an important role in motor control. It is also involved in some cognitive functions such as attention and language, and probably in some emotional functions such as regulating fear and pleasure responses.

Looking at the roles of these structures, it becomes easy to see how damage to them could produce the processing difficulties which dominate autism, and which to some degree could now be seen in Lili. If added to this there is an abnormal respiratory system which is unable to respond properly to changes in the body’s

metabolic oxygen needs, it is not hard to understand why so much of the behaviour of an autistic child could be unreasonable, disorganised, unpredictable, and extremely challenging.

Abnormalities in the thalamus make it difficult for a child to make sense of sensory, spatial and motor signals.17 This affects the ability to learn from experience by using trial and error so that a child with damage to the thalamus cannot monitor his own actions successfully. However, the thalamus also has direct connections with the cerebellum, which is important for respiratory control.

Abnormalities in the limbic system have been associated with decreases in affective behaviour such as social communication and emotional response, and can result in social withdrawal.18 Other symptoms include impaired memory for the emotional content of stories and the recognition of faces. The limbic system also significantly influences breathing patterns as they are both influenced by and have direct impact on emotional state. Abnormalities in the limbic system can result in obsessive behaviour and phobias.19

If the cerebellum is not functioning properly, both incoming and stored information may not be properly linked or accessed.20 One possible consequence is that the relationship between breathing and other activities, including limb movement, may not be coordinated normally. Linda observed that while clinicians thought it extremely difficult to bring about functional recovery in children diagnosed with autism, their respiratory problems were not typically addressed. At this time, there was increasingly extensive evidence from neurobiologists that the brain did have the potential for plasticity, i.e. the ability of the human brain to change as a result of one’s experience, and that this could be linked to respiratory development. Both normal brain growth and restorative brain growth are dependent on efficient oxygen delivery to the brain; input alone was not enough.21 Moreover, a child under six has a brain that requires 50% more oxygen than does the adult brain.22,23

It was becoming increasingly vital to Linda that the focus of her work be on the importance of a strong, flexible, and responsive respiratory system that is able to meet the metabolic demands of the oxygen-hungry developing brain. In addition to the crucial impact of this

system upon brain injured children, Linda now began to wonder whether abnormal breathing might also be responsible for the many other difficulties experienced by autistic children, such as constipation, allergies and digestive problems.

Looking a little further, Linda found that the medical literature indicated a strong relationship between normal breathing and other physical systems within the body. Breathing has an important influence on circulation which in turn affects the supply of oxygenated blood to all the body’s systems including the high oxygen needs of the gut, liver and brain. Moreover, blood flow rates within the brain vary according to respiration rate. Blood pressure is influenced by breathing; breathing is responsible for alterations in the acid/alkali balance in the body, and is also essential for lymph flow which provides for the body’s immune defences.24 Furthermore, the diaphragm is the body’s main postural muscle so that any respiratory weakness is likely to be reflected by a weakness in posture and vice versa.

The complexity of respiratory control mechanisms and the far-reaching effects breathing has on other physical systems make it reasonable to identify the problems that a person with both an injury to the processing areas of the brain and an underdeveloped respiratory system might have. It could also explain why children with these problems could display such widely varying symptoms. This then made Linda begin to see a possible reason why some children seem particularly vulnerable to vaccines. A weakened respiratory status, linked as it is to neurological function, would be unable to support the immune defences necessary to deal with the sudden additional viral and toxic stress of a vaccination.

If underlying issues sometimes exist prenatally, why would regression often start around two years of age?The evidence Linda was unearthing was beginning to support the view that postnatal stresses-- including vaccines--could at least in part explain the regression often seen in autistic children at around the age of two years. Additionally, an infant’s respiratory development is closely tied to the ability to produce rhythmical coordinated movements to which its breathing pattern is linked.25 If the link is not made appropriately, the child will be constantly stressed because of the gap between oxygen demand and oxygen supply. Furthermore, the development of a child’s limbic system really kicks in at two years of age26 and is responsible for the “terrible two’s” when, for example, emotional intensity accompanies behaviours as an aide to memory. If there is weakness within a child’s limbic system, and the child also has under-developed respiratory capacities, limbic development is delayed and /or abnormal so that problems are most likely to show up about this time. Moreover, Linda hypothesized that increases in the child’s height, weight, and stress levels also increase the gap between respiratory oxygen supply and metabolic oxygen demand, making the situation worse rather than better.

As Linda continued to broaden her understanding of the physiology involved, she also continued piecing the facts together as to how they may be impacting Lili’s health. Such facts, coupled with Lili’s tremendous courage in the face of her own adversities, spurred Linda even more strongly to look beyond the causes of the problem to its solution. She looked closely at normal respiratory development and how breathing pressures increasingly affected the body’s micro circulation upon which cell nutrition depends. Gradually the Scotson Technique (TST) was born.

How does TST work?TST is a series of very light-touch, gentle, pulse-like massages that can be made even while children sleep. The light touch means that the pressures gently increase blood flow through the smallest arteries and the capillaries serving the body tissues. The pressures copy the pulses made by the physical pressures of breathing on these blood vessels and the pumping activity of the diaphragm to return the deoxygenated blood to the heart. The affect is that

Breathing has an important influence on circulation which in turn affects the supply of oxygenated blood to all the body’s systems including the high oxygen needs of the gut, liver and brain.

the capillary walls strengthen and new additional capillary structures grow. This increases the blood-carrying capacity within the diaphragm and lungs making them stronger, larger, and more effective organs. Similar work is also gradually performed on the joints of the body.

How was TST calibrated to address the needs of children with autism?The therapy begins with a two-hour assessment undertaken by Linda at the Advance Centre, the charity which she set up to help brain injured children to a better future. After the assessment, which requires the child to be present, the parents can decide whether or not they will bring their child while they are taught the initial set of exercises. The first set of “massages” is the foundation for building the children stronger diaphragms and lungs, and is used with only minor differences for all the children. Subsequent exercise programmes are tailored to meet the individual needs of each child. In the first year, the children are given up to five different sets of exercises. Photographic and physical measurements are also made during this period to record the changes in respiratory development which are reflected by changes in body alignment, rib cage shape, and posture.

What is unique about TST is that the results are highly predictable and show that autistic children are making gains within weeks of beginning TST therapy. The best results happen when the massage techniques are done regularly. Linda recommends doing them on the children six days per week. A normal sequence of exercises takes about an hour, with five-minute breaks between each exercise, although in the case of autistic children it may take less time. In the early stages of using this technique, many parents work on their children as they sleep. However, within a few months most children are able to enjoy the therapy and are willing to have it whilst they are awake.

What happened to Lili? Lili was eventually diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia, but both Linda and Lili knew the situation was much

What is unique about TST is that the results are highly predictable and show that autistic children are making gains within weeks of beginning TST therapy.

more complex. Lili didn’t seem to fit into any category, but it had by then become clear to Linda that abnormalities of the limbic system, the thalamus, and the cerebellum-- and the way they interrelate to each other-- can be very diverse.

As Linda began to develop a therapeutic technique to improve breathing, her first clients were her own children who by now were adults. The first benefits Lili first noticed were that she had stopped falling over, and was experiencing her first winter without all the usual colds. Then she found that she was beginning to be able to hold conversations with people she met. She was no longer always alone; she had friends. The structure of her body altered, her ribcage stopped flaring to the sides and seemed to lift out of her pelvis giving her a shapelier, more flexible waist. As her energy levels increased, she stopped always being hungry, and became a slim and beautiful young woman.

Over time, Lili became more and more confident and decided she could also apply the exercises to herself. Her nervous hand movements disappeared, and she could now speak easily on the phone. She made an appointment with a hairdresser because her scalp had ceased to be hypersensitive and moreover, she could now hug and kiss

her family and her friends. Not long after this, Lili found a boyfriend.

She was at last able to discuss art, music,

and poetry which she had always loved, and politics which she had always wanted to understand. She became curious about the physiology

behind the exercises, even

taking over Doran’s therapy as she finally

joined Linda’s team at Advance, becoming an instructor

in TST herself.To find out more about TST visit

Advance’s website: www.advancecentres.com and /or phone Advance, within the UK, 01342 311137, and internationally (44) 1342 311137. If you are the parent of a child with autism and would like to participate in a brief online survey relevant to Linda’s ongoing research, go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/autism1.

Before TST May 2010

After November 2010

Before TST May 2010

After November 2010

1 Bal, E., Harden, E., Lamb, D., Van Hecke , A.V., Denver, J.W., Porges, S.W., Emotion recognition in children with autism spectrum disorders: relations to eye gaze and autonomic state. Mar 2010, 40(3), 358-702 James, A.L., Barry, R.J. Respiratory and Vascular responses to simple visual stimuli in autistics, retardates and normals. Pyschophysiology. Nov 1980: 17(8):541-7.3 Liu, X., Hubbard, J.A., Fabea, R.A., Adam, J.B. Sleep disturbances and correlates of children with autism spectrum disorders. Winter 2008. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev 32(2) 179-91.4 Toder, D. (2000) Respiratory problems in the adolescent with developmental delay. Adolescent Medicine: State of the Art Reviews, 11(3): 617-631.5 Davis, L. (1987). Respiration and phonation in cerebral palsy: a developmental model. Seminars in Speech and Language. 8(1): 101-106.6 Sharples, R., (2005) The Scotson Technique: An exploratory study to establish a theoretical base for the technique and to investigate any potential eff ects. Division of Rehabilitation Studies, School of Health Studies, Bradford: 154.7 Granholm, L,L,L., Siesjo, B. (1968) Evidence of the Cerebral Hypoxia of Pronounced Hyperventilation. Scandinavian Journal of Laboratory Investigation. 8 Hewertson, J.B.S., Samuels, M.P., Neville, B.G, Southall, D.P. (1996) Hypoxaemia and cardiorespiratory changes during epileptic seizures in young children. Dev Med Child Neurol. 38(6):511-522.9 Huttenlocher, P.R.(2002), Neural Plasticity: The Eff ects of Environment on the Development of the Cerebral Cortex. Cambridge Massachusetts, London, England,. Harvard University Press.10 Kennedy,C, S.L. (1957) An adaptation of the nitrous oxide method to study of the cerebral circulation in children: Normal values for Cerebral blood fl ow and cerebral metabolic rate in childhood. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 36(7): 1130-37.11 Jansen A.H., Loff e, S., Chernick, V. (1989). Control of organ blood fl ow in fetal sheep during normoxia and hypoxia. Am J Physiol: 257(4Pt2): H 1132-1139.12 Barker, D.J.P. (2001) Fetal Origins of Cardiovascular and Lung Disease. (Introduction), New York. USA. Marcel Dekker, Inc.13 Barker, 200114 Colebatch, J. G., Adams, L. Et al. (1991) Regional cerebral blood fl ow during volitional breathing in man. J Physiol, Lond. Vol.443: 91-103.15 Alexander, GE, C.M. (1990). Functional architecture of basel ganglia circuits: neural substrates of parallel processing. Trends in Neurosciences 13(7) 266-27116 Brodal, P. (2004) The Central Nervous System: Structure and Function. New York, Oxford University Press.17 Brodal, 2004 18 Brodal, 200419 Brodal, 200420 Brodal, 200421 Guyton, .A.C H.J.(2000). Textbook of Medical Physiology. Philadelphia.W B Saunders & Co22 Granholm, 1968 23 Huttenlocher, 2002 24 Guyton, 200025 Alexander, 199026 Brodal, 2004

References

JOSIE’S STORYBy her mother

Josie’s ‘diff erences’ and bizarre behaviour were very obvious from an early age and she was

subsequently diagnosed, at three years of age, as being towards the severe end of the autistic spectrum. As her parents, we were bluntly told that the ‘disorder’ had no cure, just hope for the management of the diffi culties it would present for everyone.

Since having discovered The Scotson Technique practised and begun using it for Josie, I am in no doubt that brain restoration and funcion is completely possible and that Josie is the child she is today because of it.

With a big leap of faith and a curious excitement, we embarked upon the journey of the restoration of Josie. Such light excercises on the diaphragm, and thankfully not a medicinal drug in sight! A journey only made possible by the fact that we would be able to practise on a sleeping child. There was no way at that point, that Josie would have allowed us to touch her and do any of the exercises on her whilst awake.

Several years later and Josie has changed and improved in so many diff erent ways. Her language skills improved almost within days of beginning the exercises. Several weeks later I noticed that Josie’s muscle tone had signifi cantly improved. When holding her by the hand it no longer felt like I was attached to a never ending piece of elastic!

As we progressed the educational and medical professionals involved with Josie made many predictions and pronouncements about the the things that Josie wouldn’t be able to do within her autism, but she has always gone beyond and outshone these. She has improved in the areas not traditionally seen as being ‘restorable’ in a child with autism.

Josie is still very ‘diff erent’, but manageable, and very loving and fun to be with. Without Linda Scotson and ADVANCE I fi rmly believe that by now we would have been unable to physically and emotionally cope with Josie at home. Instead of this unimaginable scenario we have been blessed with a journey of love and excitement and the power to heal!

Since having discovered The Scotson Technique practised and begun using it for Josie, I am in no doubt that brain restoration and funcion is completely possible and that Josie is the child she is today because of it.