Early detection and intervention is key, and yet...

The article Some autistic kids' parents dispute criticism of nontraditional treatments addresses familiar themes about the validity (or not) of 'alternative' treatments for autism such as chelation, special diets, hyperbaric chambers, etc. Nothing really new.

But there were a couple of paragraphs in the story that caught my eye (emphasis mine):

Joseph was born healthy at 5 pounds, 14 ounces. He developed normally, his parents said, until he was about 10 months old, when he began to flap his hands, a common behavior with autistic children.

He started talking and interacted well, but then his language regressed. He had tantrums. He'd lie on the floor, pace or jump.

His parents, both lawyers, felt Joseph was being stolen from his body. But several pediatricians said not to worry.

It is disturbing to think that one parent could find "several" pediatricians consecutively that don't seem to understand the early indicators of autism. This doesn't seem to present a very good image of the state of the level of knowledge about autism in the medical profession.

tagged as: Autism, Pediatrics, Early Intervention