Homeopathic Treatment of Autism - Evidence #5

That the Society of Homeopaths (SoH) finally managed to meet the Conditions placed by the Professional Standards Authority (PSA) on their reaccreditation does suggest suggest that it is worth looking at members websites and so on.

It is worth pointing out that some further analysis has been done on CEASE and the related Homeopathic Detox Therapy (HDT) practitioners. This is worth blogging about in its own right but one thing it did reveal is that the numbers of SoH members potentially offering these bogus therapies is higher than initially thought. There are more than 110 of them. Given that the SoH has roughly 1,100 members - including students - this is a significant proportion of their membership.

Previously mentioned

Whether is too soon to expect members to have begun the process of voluntarily updating their websites depends on your point of view but it is at least a week since the SoH will have informed members via their email newsletter. Of course, members may not read the newsletter and if the history of the SoH is anything to go by, it seems unlikely that the SoH will have taken any steps to draw members attention to it.

This post mentions Usula Kraus-Harper and as it points out, it is likely that she would not be happy about being told to amend her website. It would appear she has not made any attempt to do so. This post mentions Jennifer Hautman and again, there seems to be no attempt to amend claims relating to autism.

Yvonne Stone

Stone is highly problematic. On her About Me web page she talks about training as a nurse after leaving school but -

I quickly realised I was not willing to take orders all day long, so I trained to become a midwife as they were more able to make independent decisions. I soon realised I wanted to be totally in charge of my own workload, so I went to work on the community and then I recognised that I also liked things done the ‘proper way’, so I became a manager.

Which suggests she make not take too kindly being told what claims she can and can not make by the SoH. Not that she makes many on her website for CEASE therapy - from the same webpage -

My most recent training was to become a Certified CEASE therapist. I can help children and adults whose health has deteriorated since having vaccines, anaesthetics, anitbitoics or other medication. 

However, this web page reveals Stone to be an anti-vaccationist. This is not permitted by the SoH. Stone says -

I am a Certified CEASE therapist and I have found that homeopathic medicines and good nutrition can help restore your child's good health. I co-run an Arnica Group in Colliers Wood. We meet once a month to talk about how to help our children grow up healthy and strong.  

Stone also links to the Informed Parent website describing it as "excellent" - it is extremely anti-vaccination even it pretends not to be. It is full of misinformation and scaremongering.

Worse still Stone co-authored with Liz Bevan-Jones the No Nonsense Vaccine Handbook. What exactly is in that book is unknown but this document  suggests it will be full of all sorts of bogus information. The decision to vaccinate is a no-brainer in the vast majority of situations. It contains "advice" such as -

It is unnecessary to vaccinate your baby (while you are still breast-feeding) for any disease you had naturally. Breast milk contains long-chain sugars necessary to develop a healthy immune system. The mother’s antibodies last for 3 months beyond the time she finishes breast-feeding.

The UK vaccination schedule includes vaccinations for some very serious diseases. Breast  milk may not contain significant, if any, levels of antibodies to most of these diseases. But worse -

Use homeopathic nosodes to protect your children from diseases which are epidemic. They are simple to take and enable the immune system to operate as nature intended without toxicity or unpleasant side-effects. See pages on Homeopathic Prophylaxis and Nosodes. Further information on nosodes can be found in the No Nonsense Travel Vaccine Handbook. 

Use of homeoprophylaxis is described in by the SoH as -

Currently there is no homeopathic alternative to vaccination or anti-malarial drugs which has been proven beyond doubt to be clinically effective. It is therefore unethical for a homeopath to advise a patient against the use of conventional vaccines or anti-malarial drugs.

Stone would appear to be in breach of this in spades.

Stone offers Mannatech products. Mannatech is notorious for bogus marketing claims as well being a multi-level marketing scam. The claims made for these products are not compatible with EU regulations and it is questionable whether they are legal in the UK.


Amanda Bate
Bate does not say a great deal about CEASE therapy or autism on her website. Here she talks about tautopathy -

This therapy is helpful if long term use of a drug or vaccination has caused a problem. I would discuss this methodology with you should I think you would benefit from it. It is a different way of using remedies. This method of homeopathy is used for some patients  with Autistic Spectrum Disorder or Aspergers or patients who have suffered side effects from The Pill, steroids, antidepressants and other medications.

Tautopathy is just another word for isopathy that is used in CEASE. Bate is implying very strongly that autism is caused by drugs or vaccination.

ASD and "vaccination side effects" appear in a list of conditions that patients come to see her about. Of course, the SoH seem to be taking the line these days that this is perfectly permissible as long as no claim to treat/cure is made.

Bate is an anti-vaccinationist and very open about it. She is an Arnica group leader. On her website there is a document Vaccination Choices. It is full of hearsay and anecdote - which is very much how groups like Arnica work. There is also this blog post. Bate also has a Facebook page where she is much more active in terms of post compared to the blog on her website. She seems very keen on the Children's Medical Safety Reasearch Institute - which is nothing of the sort. It is extremely anti-vaccination to the point of funding bogus research. It strongly pushes the line that vaccines cause autism but most disturbing of all are the attitudes of some of those that write for it. Bates may be blindly posting things without understanding any of this.

Arunjot Mushiana

Mushiana doesn't make any mention of CEASE on her website except to say that she's had "training". But she does make mention of it elsewhere, eg on her (probably abandoned) blog, on the Thames Valley Homeopaths website and just in passing on a couple of other websites. Her Twitter timeline does make relatively recent mention of homeopathy and autism though as well as recommending the Amy Lansky "Impossible Cure" book. Her entry on the CEASE therapy website is worrying.

Hi, I am a UK registered homeopath, having qualified from The London College of Homeopathy in1995. I have a busy local practice in Slough where I see patients from all over England as well as having international clients from countries including Sri Lanka, India, USA, Canada & Dubai. Although my first language is English I also speak fluent Punjabi. Please take a look at my website and feel free to write to me with your questions or to arrange a 15 min free Skype consultation.

International clients? Unless Mushiana is flying around the world or her clients are flying to her, does this mean she is conducting consultations with autistic children via Skype? This would be problematic to say the least as was discussed in this post in regards to Sian Collister.

Mushiana's website starts that she is an Arnica group in the Windsor and Slough area. It appears that is the co-leader is Sylvia Giunta - another member of the SoH and CEASE practitioner. How active this group this is impossible to tell and this tends to be the case with all local Arnica groups. Some have closed Facebook groups. There is a Yahoo group. Others may communicate by email.

Liz Bevan-Jones

Bevan-Jones' website no longer works and hasn't done for a number of years. However, online mentions of her do say that she has a busy clinic. On the other hand, there are some indications that she may no longer be practicing but it isn't terribly clear. She would still appear to be a member of the SoH.

Bevan-Jones did a seminar with Yvonne Stone in addition to writing a book with. Stone offers appointments at the same location as Bevan-Jones did. Arnica still shows Bevan-Jones as a local organiser for Colliers Wood although no mention is made of Stone.

In addition to CEASE, Bevan-Jones would appeared to be trained in HDT.


Sarah Kaiper-Holmes

Kaiper-Holmes mentions autism on her Rainbow Homeopathy website but no mention of CEASE therapy. However, she mentions her intention (obviously carried out) to study CEASE therapy on her Rainbow Babies website.

Sarah graduated in 2009 from The Centre for Homeopathic Education in London with a BSc(Hons) Homeopathy. 

Whilst studying for this degree, she completed her Masters degree in Autism during which she carried out a small-scale research project looking at using Homeopathy to improve the behavioural aspects of children with Autism.

This seems odd. BSc and MA at the same time? Kaiper-Holmes already had a first degree as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Education so entry to the Sheffield Hallam part time MA Autism Spectrum course or whatever course came before it would not be an issue. The Centre for Homeopathic Education (CHE) no longer offer a BSc - Middlesex University removed accreditation - but even the full time version would likely few teaching hours.

The current MA Autism Spectrum course doesn't seem to have a research element. It seems unlikely that the "research" was part of her MA. The ethics of conducting medical trials on children are difficult and those on autistic children even more difficult. The likelihood of a university ethics board approving research using a treatment with no plausibility on vulnerable children is extremely low even if the treatment is harmless.

Arguably, the MA should mean that Kaiper-Holmes is competent to work with autistic children and adults but treating them? There is no way that the MA transforms a bogus therapy into a real one.

She spent four years running monthly homeopathy clinics at The Hesley Village & Fullerton House School (part of The Hesley Group) where children and adults have a range of special needs within the autistic spectrum.

The Helsey Group seem very sensible overall and homeopathy seems out of place. But they do not currently seem to offer anything of the kind.

Kaiper-Holmes makes the mistake of claiming that homeopathy can treat a list of conditions -

• Acne, Arthritis, Allergies, Asthma, Autism, ADHD, Anxiety
• Bruises, Bed-wetting, Bites & Stings
• Constipation, Colic, Coughs & Colds, Childbirth, Cystitis, Chicken pox
• Depression, Drug withdrawal, Diarrhoea
• Eczema, Ear infections
• Fertility issues, ‘Flu, Fever, Fatigue
• Gynaecological problems, Gout, Grief, Gastric problems
• Hayfever, Headaches, Heartburn
• IBS, Insomnia
• Labour, Lethargy
• Menopause, Menstrual problems, Migraines, Measles, Mumps
• Pregnancy, PMS, Panic attacks
• Respiratory complaints, Rashes
• Sports injuries, Shock, Sunburn/sunstroke, Stress, Sore throats
• Tantrums, Teething, Tonsillitis
• Vomiting, Verrucae & Warts

This is not permitted by the SoH.

The Rainbow Babies website reveals that she is a local Arnica group leader. The group seems active in that it meets monthly on a social basis. Given Kaiper-Holmes' business interests, this likely gives her access to a ready market for her services. The role of this kind of social network, mouth of mouth recommendations, and so forth can not be underestimated. It may explain why some SoH members do not advertise online, especially if the are part time.

Again, it is impossible to know if Kaiper-Holmes actively offers CEASE therapy within these groups but they are likely to be receptive.

Silvia Giunta
Giunta does make mention of CEASE therapy and autism on this page. She links to the CEASE therapy website. She also states -

Silvia Giunta is a Homeopath & Neurodevelopment practitioner working with : Dyslexia, ADD, Neurodevelopmental Delay, Hypermobility

"Neurodevelopment practitioner"? Neurodevelopmental practitioner is a term used to describe some highly specialist paediatricians (especially those involved with the diagnosis of autism) but Giunta is not one of those. Neurodevelopmental delay is an odd term - generally the term neurodevelopmental disorder is used - and is often a euphasism for autism.

Giunta also mentions CEASE on the Thames Valley Homeopaths website which does seem to be a nest of CEASE practitioners. Giunta is also qualified in HDT. Giunta would also appear to be a Brain Buzz practitioner as well as offering Sensory Activation Solutions therapy. To top it all, she uses the bogus Asyra machine (which is very similar to the ZYTO machine). What the SoH will make of such machines is unknown, given the illegality of the claims made for them. 

It's worth pointing out that Giunta charges a lot for consultations - even relatively short Skype ones. Giunta also seems to be involved with a purveyor of bizarre diets and valueless tests.

Sophie Knock
Knock has a page on CEASE. It does not make for good reading. Nor does the Asyra nonense or the involvement with Arnica. It's a full on claim for the bogus "benefits" of CEASE with multiple links to the CEASE therapy website,. The kind of thing that the SoH are supposedly concerned about.

CEASE Therapy stands for Complete Elimination of Autistic Spectrum Expression . Step by step all causative factors (vaccines, regular medication, toxic exposures, etc.) are detoxified with the homeopathic diluted and potentized substances that caused the autism.

Perhaps Knock did not get the email? Knock also links to various articles about the bogus trial in Cuba that involved homeoprophylaxis against leptospirosis. Some of the links don't work and those that do - well, the articles are as poor as you might imagine. But this one is interesting in terms of the comments and who turns up there. Gina Tyler for example - a US homeopath who is deeply anti-vaccination.