Here's an exciting alternative therapy for autistic children that's much more appealing than the smelly supplements and special diets. It turns out a massage might help them sleep better and enjoy calmer waking hours.

A new study in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine suggests Traditional Thai Massage could be useful as a complementary treatment for children with autistic spectrum disorders.

The study found that children receiving Thai massage in addition to the traditional occupational therapy approaches had fewer behavioral outbursts and better sleep than those who did not get massage.

This is an alternative treatment I can really get behind. Thai massage is a safe, non-invasive touch therapy that improves circulation, increases flexibility, and feels great. I always sleep better after I've had a massage, and it's easy to believe that autistic children will benefit from it as well.

Thai massage is done clothed, on a mat on the floor. The massage therapist bends the recipient's body into therapeutic poses very gently, and applies light pressure through the clothes on certain points in the body. It looks and feels a bit like partner yoga.

The study was fairly small, including only 60 autistic children separated into a study group and a control group. All the children enrolled in the study received a traditional therapy called standard sensory integration therapy throughout the study. The study group also received traditional Thai massage treatments.

To track results, parents kept a sleep diary of their child's sleeping routines and all caregivers noted behavioral outbursts and discipline issues using a standard metric.

The researchers see the results as promising enough to recommend massage as an additional therapy alongside the standard therapeutic measures.

Usually I'm skeptical of studies this small, but massage therapy is so innocuous that I'm happy to report on it. It also helps my belief factor that no one is suggesting that massage alone will overcome the problems autism causes for children and families.

Many alternative therapies, like chelation therapy, are espoused as complete alternatives to traditional care. These recommendations worry me because they're invasive, and in some cases may be dangerous to the child receiving them.

Additionally, kids whose parents are sold on a wholly alternative method of treating autism may be shortchanged if that treatment is so much snake oil, and theire kids miss out on more effective therapies as a result.

Massage in addition to mainstream therapy, though? No downside that I can see. And if it helps everyone get a better night's sleep, so much the better.

Massage therapy may not be covered by your health insurance, but if you have an employer-based health care FSA, you may be able to allot pre-tax dollars to pay for it.

If you're interested in pursuing this therapy for your child, or for yourself, you can find a practitioner through the International Thai Therapists Association. The website also offers more information about the history and practice of Thai massage, and explores its health benefits.