Ahmed Omar began his life as a smiley, fuzzy-haired baby with curious eyes and an obvious adoration for his older brother. His development seemed to be on track, and for a while it even seemed as if he was a bit advanced for his age.
But after his family returned home to Arlington after a summer trip a few weeks before his second birthday, Ahmed’s parents began to notice changes in their bright little boy.
“He was refusing to eat foods he had once loved, and his tantrums became erratic and would escalate quickly,” says Sara Ibrahim, Ahmed’s mother.
At first, Ibrahim and her husband thought this was just typical 2-year-old behavior, but as the tantrums got worse and he wasn’t developing speech like his peers, Ahmed’s parents sought help through local Early Childhood Intervention services (ECI).
“ECI referred us to a behavioral psychologist who diagnosed him at age 2 1/2 as being on the autism spectrum,” Ibrahim says.
Ahmed began seeing a speech therapist, while his mother bought books, DVDs and iPad apps to try and stimulate his speech at home.
“He began making babbling noises to songs, but none of the words were recognizable,” she remembers. “After he started Preschool Programs for Children with Disabilities (PPCD), he began saying two-word commands.”
Still frustrated by his lack of progress, Ibrahim got desperate and looked for an alternative treatment. She did some research online about the positive effects of essential oils on children with autism. And though she was skeptical, Ibrahim ordered an essential oil kit.
She began rubbing a combination of lavender and Valor, a blend of rosewood and spruce essential oils, on her toddler’s feet each night before bed.
And while it took some time, Ibrahim definitely saw results.
After just two to three months of using the oils, Ibrahim says that Ahmed started being able to communicate more successfully with his family. Now he is on track with the rest of his peers and preparing to start a typical kindergarten program this fall. His mother credits his improvement to his PPCD teacher and her regular use of the essential oils.
Success stories like Ahmed’s that tout the miracle effects of essential oils are powerful, and you don’t have to do much digging to find them — a lot of them. Personal blogs and online parent-to-parent support groups provide positive testimonies from advocates that using essential oils to curb everything from anxiety to restlessness in their kids with special needs.
Essential oils have definitely passed the test of time. The concentrated oils derived from the leaves, stems, flowers and seeds of various plants, have been used medicinally since the beginning of recorded history.
But modern medical literature includes limited research on their efficacy.
Dr. Justin Smith, a pediatrician with Cook Children’s says that there’s just not that much out there in terms of research on essential oils and children. “And there’s even less out there about using essential oils with children with special needs,” he says.
The studies that have been done have very small sample sizes (less than 50 subjects) and are poorly designed (they lack a control group, for instance).
Which is why more research is underway. Researchers at Ohio State University want to see how safe and effective essential oils really are, so they’re assembling a randomized, double-blind study to see if essential oils actually do help with the emotional or behavioral challenges associated with autism spectrum disorder.
The study will take two years and only include about two dozen participants, so it’s too small to prove efficacy, but the data will hopefully give researchers the green light to move on to a larger clinical trial.
Dr. Randy Naidoo, CEO and owner of Shine Pediatrics and Wellness Center in Frisco and Richardson, has been studying essential oils on his own since 2005. He has found that the sense of smell is closely linked to the limbic system of the brain, which regulates hormonal and emotional processes.
“There is a huge correlation between the olfactory system and behavior even when you look at infant development,” he says. “An infant knows who Mom and Dad are even before they are cognizant simply because of smell.”
So essential oils allow people to manipulate the sense of smell “to help children with behavior issues calm down, become less anxious and potentially focus more as a result,” adds Naidoo, who is also an independent product consultant for doTERRA essential oils.
“When you’re talking about autism, bipolar disorder or ADHD, the adrenal system is in overdrive, so you want to do things to help calm that child,” says Naidoo, who has recommended lavender, Roman chamomile and vanilla essential oils for these patients. “Really, it doesn’t matter what the diagnosis is; if you can calm the child, you will have a better outcome.”
Keep in mind that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not regulate essential oils. That means any self-described “expert” in the field can concoct a blend and sell it to you as long as they don’t purport that it’s meant as a treatment or a cure.
So it’s important to do your homework. What’s in the bottle may not be what’s on the label. Before you buy, look for or ask for the Latin name of the plant so you’re sure you’re getting the right oil. There are several species of lavender, for instance. Is there a statement about purity? You want to make sure that you are getting 100 percent essential oil. Is the cost comparable to other brands? Don’t buy the cheap stuff. Does it smell like you think it should?
And always consult your doctor before actually using an essential oil on your child.
“Essential oils do interact with other medications,” Smith explains. “You don’t want the medication that your child with special needs is taking to become dangerous or ineffective with the introduction of essential oils.”
Advocates of essential oils love that they’re natural, but just because they’re natural doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re safe. Poison ivy and oak are natural but far from safe. Essential oils are natural but can have nasty consequences if they’re misused. Allergic reactions (like rashes and other skin irritations) and other adverse effects are not uncommon, especially in children with sensitive systems like those with asthma or special needs.
Ahmed’s 8-year-old brother Ziyad has asthma. Ibrahim used eucalyptus oil in his diffuser, and “his lungs started to spasm and he began wheezing to the point where we had to administer a nebulizer treatment,” she says.
According to the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), oils can cause skin irritation, sunburns (if a citrus-based oil is used and the person has prolonged sun exposure) or mucous membrane irritation.
The NAHA also warns against the use of certain essential oils in pregnant women because the oils might be able to pass into the baby’s bloodstream and cause an adverse effect.
Not only can administering the oils on the skin or in a diffuser cause a problem, but kids are more at risk than ever for accidental poisoning from essential oils (the number of poisonings has risen in the last five years), either by ingestion or improper dosing, according to a recently published report by a Tennessee poison control center.
Allen mom Maureen Brice Bordelon, author of Essential Oils for Sensitive Systems and the mother of a 15-year-old son with autism spectrum disorder, says that because essential oils are so potent, parents should be educated and cautious about the amount and type of oils they use, especially on children and those with special needs.
While the use of oils might not be an exact science, Bordelon thinks oils have become so popular among moms, especially those with children with special needs, because parents don’t always see results with traditional medicine.
“People go to the doctor, which is everyone’s first line of defense, and if they don’t find the answers they need, then they look outside the box for other health modalities,” she says.
Just like Ibrahim did.
“It wasn’t until I started using essential oils on Ahmed that I finally started to see big differences,” she says.
