Whenever I think of children, one striking thing that attracts me is the child’s energy! It is pure and uninhibited; it flows with unbounded sway and expresses itself in the child’s every act. It is amazing to see that every child speaks and expresses whatever he or she wants to say, even about the commonest things in his or her own unique way. Interestingly, I saw that these expressions of energy are very peculiar and individualistic to each child. They are visible in every action of the child, his emotions, perceptions, fears, dreams, stories, plays, imaginations, drawings, and in countless other ways. When the child is in a healthy state, he or she has a vibration pattern which is completely unique and individualized.
But the real challenge was when I would deal with cases where the child could not speak due to his pathology. I would be at my wits end to find out the holistic picture in such special children who couldn’t express themselves verbally. And I would be surrounded by questions as to how I would make a better prescription in such children cases.
The questions that came up in my mind were:
- How to find sensation in non-verbal children?
- How to be sure of similimum in Children who cannot speak?
- Is there a method where we can be sure that the symptoms and remedy which we have obtained are at holistic level and not just our individual observation?
I also realised that as compared to an adult, who has extremely well-developed verbal skills, a child does not have developed verbal skills. However, children’s non-verbal skills come naturally to them. As well, their actions, behaviours, and movements are strong indicators of their energy. Energy is pure, thus, its manifestations are distinct and conspicuous.
Hence it occurred to me that I should focus on those observations of the child, those gestures, those behavioural changes in the child that come naturally to him, that which are not taught to him by others. Those stories, imaginations, fears, which the parents observed in him which are not taught to him by the parents or other family members, and also are not a part of the child’s cultural background but are a part of his pure uninhibited energy which is there right from the conception. Also the mother who is the medium of expression of the child’s energy during the nine months of pregnancy, her feelings, and imaginations, perceptions that she has observed and experienced only during those nine months would be nothing but those that are coming from the child’s energy in the womb.
Hence a combination of all these observations would increase my chances of a better prescription. So the “five” point system that I developed for such special children who are unable to express themselves verbally to reach the similimum is:
- POINT 1: Physician’s observations about the child: What child does in the Consulting Room
- POINT 2: Parent’s observations about the child
- POINT 3: Mother’s history during pregnancy
- POINT 4: Physician’s examination findings of the child
- POINT 5: Observing one pattern which is running through and through in case.
This will help you to reach to Source and remedy.
POINT1: Physician’s observations about the child:
What child does in the consulting room…?
As we all know, the child expresses himself freely through his actions and gestures, and these are nothing but non-verbal expressions of the child’s altered energy pattern. These are the few points which would help me…
- Any particular activity that the child is doing repeatedly, spontaneously, naturally
- What is the child doing with his parents
- What is the child doing with his siblings accompanying him? How does he respond to their actions? What is the type of play he engages in with them?
- What are his reactions to unfamiliar people like us? What is the level of eye contact with us?
- Which objects does he pick up in the room? Also, what is he doing with the objects he has picked up? Any particular object which he tries to play with or is attracted to?
POINT 2: Parent’s observations about the child
The next step would be to make note of all the peculiar observations made by the parents about the child. As they would give us the first-hand experience of the child’s behaviour, and they are the best who would understand their non-verbal child through his actions.
So I would make note of the following points from the parents’ observations:
- I start with enquiries regarding what they have noted about the child with respect to his Physical Generals during relative health – his appetite, thirst, sleep pattern, cravings, aversions, excretory functions, thermals, perspiration with its characteristics etc. which have surfaced naturally and were not taught to him or her.
- I also probe into the milestone history; the type of delivery, history of past and recent diseases with regards the onset, duration and progress of each disease, the intensity and frequency of the illnesses; or any surgeries the child has undergone – which give us indications about the child’s susceptibility, the miasmatic background, its diathesis etc.
- Secondly, we can ask parents to describe his local complaint – the location; the aggravating, ameliorating modalities; and the concomitant symptoms along with it, that is the Physical Particulars.
- Tell me what your child does throughout the day? What is it that he really enjoys doing and keeps him completely engrossed? That which is not taught but appears naturally from the deeper realms of his subconscious...
- ‘What does she do when she is alone in her space?’
- ‘Any words which he spontaneously utters during that moment, which are never taught to him by anybody?’
- Activities:
- What are those activities or plays that he does naturally without anyone asking him to do those, like when he is alone what are those things that he picks or those actions which come to him spontaneously?
- ‘What is her favourite pastime?’
- Does he have the habit of making up stories? Any particular idea which seems to recur in his stories without the parents ever telling him about it anytime before, or which he has never heard from anybody but comes to him naturally?
- Or any story or cartoon which he doesn’t like or is scared to watch from the very first time he saw the glimpse of it?
POINT 3: Mother’s History during Pregnancy
In case witnessing children, the phrase, “a mother’s state during pregnancy’” took on a whole new dimension.
In this particular case I observed, the mother during her pregnancy had come to me for a follow up and I observed a completely different state in her, as I was treating her before that and given her a plant remedy, but during her nine months of pregnancy there was a complete difference in her whole energy pattern, she started liking things which she completely detested earlier, she had dreams which she had never seen before. This kept me wondering as to can this be the child’s energy that is expressing itself?
I was sure that the mother’s state during pregnancy and change in mother’s state during pregnancy is important in order to find remedy for the child. The unique energy pattern of the child which is created in the womb temporarily makes the mother a host to express itself. This unique energy pattern during pregnancy is the holistic expression of the child’s energy. Hence,
- This high unique energy makes mother’s body a host and expresses its pattern through Mother’s holistic expression (Sensation and energy pattern) Mental Generals (Feeling, delusions), Physical Generals and Physical Particulars.
- CHANGE in mother’s state during pregnancy is the expression of child’s energy.
The pattern of this energy will express itself as much as possible but the form of the Foetus is not developed yet. Hence this high unique energy makes mother’s body a host and expresses its pattern through the CHANGED STATE in Mother’s holistic expression (Sensation and energy pattern) Mental Generals (Feeling, delusions), Physical Generals and Physical Particulars. This CHANGE can be seen in all the stages of pregnancy.
POINT 4: Physician’s Examination Findings of the child
For a homeopathic physician, physical examination is all the more important, since apart from the regular diagnostic purpose, it serves as the guiding light on the high seas of mental symptoms
Accordingly, when I examine patients, I look out for –
- Any concomitant symptoms present with the chief complaint.
- Any PQRS symptoms of the hair, eyes, ears, nose, teeth, nails, and skin.
- The shape, size, colour and characteristics of the tongue.
- The characteristics of discharges
- Heat or coldness or perspiration of any part
All these symptoms are not just direct rubrics which give us hints towards the similimum, but they can also be utilized to confirm the remedy at the end.
POINT 5: Observing one pattern which is running through and through in case.
A single pattern runs through and through in each case, if only we observe and are aware of it. Non verbal patterns can appear unexpectedly in front of us, showing us the common thread joining all the PQRS, out of place and out of order symptoms. This happens more frequently and clearly in special children, as their conscious in not so well-developed and they can express their sub-conscious better.
How do we take the journey towards the similimum in such cases? What we do here is
Once we get the pattern running through and through the case, we walk the last step towards the similimum. Here, to construct the totality I consider the following points (in that order) –
- Symptoms which have come up in two or more areas
- Signs, objective symptoms which cannot be missed
- Mental generals which are surely a part of his centre
- Characteristic Physical generals
- The Changes in Mother’s State during pregnancy, and around conception and lactation
- The Physician’s observations
- Parent’s observations
All these taken together form the totality of symptoms which leads to the appropriate similimum. Thus the individualistic, holistic pattern can be perceived; and the confluence of the thematic understanding, the rubrics and the Materia - Medica presents the similimum to us.
For further detail read “Internal Witnessing - method to bring holistic sensation of patient and remedy through body”