Autism Awareness Day: A Tale of Three Pediatricians

Cullen was diagnosed last September as being on the autism spectrum. This launched us into a world we knew nothing about, and we have learned a whole lot since then. I’ve wanted to post some thoughts for a while, but wasn’t sure how or when to do this… since I just found out today is Autism Awareness Day, I’ve decided to bite the bullet and tell you a tale of three pediatricians.

The first pediatrician was a bit harsh. This was before Cullen was diagnosed and, in fact, before any symptoms of autism appeared. We had been hesitant about the vaccine regiment and therefore were taking it slow. He decided scare tactics were the best policy. So we switched to another pediatrician.

The second pediatrician I want to tell you about was referred to us because he himself has an autistic child. By the time we saw him, autism was a suspicion and this was in fact the doctor that confirmed this diagnosis. He is a great guy. He did not believe vaccines were a problem whatsoever, but he was very respectful of our need to work through the issues and make decisions as Cullen’s mom and dad. He’s the most responsive doctor I’ve ever had; he would spend a full hour talking with us in spite of his demanding schedule, and then email us information with 20 attachments. He helped put us in touch with local support groups which would ultimately lead us to Pediatrician #3.

The third pediatrician is a DAN! doctor. “DAN!” is not an expletive but instead stands for “Defeat Autism Now!” This is a group of doctors who believe that autism is treatable and that therapy is not the only solution. You see, mainstream pediatricians pretty much say there is no known cause for autism and the only solution is a lot of therapy. It’s a life sentence. DAN! doctors, on the other hand, are more hopeful concerning discovering the cause, and finding the most effective biomedical treatments, for autism.

Here’s how this played out in our case:

Pediatrician #1 should be ashamed of himself and Pediatrician #2 is a great guy. Pediatrician #3, however (the DAN! doctor), has been the most aggressive and hopeful. From day one she said, “We will get Cullen over this.” She laid out all her research, explained what she thought was going on in Cullen’s case, and began prescribing a number of supplements to begin reversing what she sees as underlying biomedical issues. The very next day we began to see positive changes taking place.

As a parent of an autistic child, here is what I’d like you to know—whether you have an autistic child or not.

First, there are different kinds of pediatricians when it comes to addressing autism. Unfortunately, because the battle over autism's cause and treatment sometimes gets completely irrational, these two groups aren’t really in communication with one another.

Second, the Shomos believe that autism is treatable and kids are getting better. Sadly, this message is only slowly beginning to leak out. I’m shocked at how poorly this is understood, and by some of the very bad press that I see concerning autism that would pretty much prevent this info from getting out! I'm not saying we know what causes or cures autism; it seems to be a constellation of issues, different for each child. But I do believe that there is worthwhile research and treatments that you won't hear about without digging deeper. We have learned a ton of stuff that I’d be happy to share with anyone who’d like to talk about it.

Finally, let me mention that our hope is ultimately in the Great Physician, Jesus Christ. We have had the elders at our church pray for Cullen, and in fact that proved to be the pivotal week for Cullen—the week he saw the DAN! doctor (we almost had cancelled this appointment) and made some immediate progress. I believe that this is one of those prayers that’s going to be answered through a long slog, although I optimistically keep expecting to turn that final corner...

The Great Physician is also working in mom and dad. We’ve learned a lot, grown a lot, gained a lot more empathy than we once had. Our hope is not so much in Cullen getting 100% better as in God’s commitment to our family no matter what the future brings.