Two massage therapists are finalists in a national contest—and winning it will allow them to create a program to offer free aquatic CranioSacral Therapy to autistic children.

Kara Spencer of Eugene, Oregon, and a colleague are finalists in the $10,000 contest featured on Ideablob.com, a website that funds business ideas that receive the most votes on the site.

Spencer has practiced CranioSacral Therapy for a decade, and began offering the technique in the water two years ago. Now she is organizing Water CranioSacral Clinics for autistic children. The therapists' goal is to rent a swimming pool to offer free clinics for children with autism and their families, purchase aquatic equipment and offer professional training to expand the program.

CranioSacral Therapy was pioneered by John E. Upledger., D.O., and is taught at The Upledger Institute. It is a gentle bodywork technique involving release of restrictions in the soft tissues that surround the central nervous system.

"Water CranioSacral has … helped my son learn to speak and sing, be affectionate, sleep and eat better, resolved many digestive and behavioral issues, and brought my family closer together," said Tiffany, the mother of an autistic child who submitted the idea to IdeaBlob (who requested that her last name be withheld).

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