This week, I sit down with two incredible guests to unpack one of the most talked-about (and misunderstood) press conferences in recent months. I’m joined by Dr. Tanya Altmann, pediatrician and founder of Calabasas Pediatrics Wellness Center, and Dr. Anshu Batra, developmental-behavioral pediatrician and autism specialist, to separate fact from fear when it comes to Tylenol, leucovorin, and autism.

We talk about what the latest research actually shows, what parents should know, and why conversations about autism deserve more nuance and empathy than political headlines.

We discuss:

• What current research tells us about autism’s causes, including the strong role of genetics and the complex mix of environmental and developmental factors.

• Why studies on Tylenol and autism don’t prove causation, and how correlation has been misunderstood in headlines and online discussions.

• How leucovorin (folinic acid) may support some children with autism, why it’s not a cure, and what doctors are actually seeing in practice.

• The connection between micronutrients, gut health, and neurodevelopment, plus real barriers families face in getting lab work and supplements covered.

• What early screen exposure can do to developing brains, and why less screen time and more real-world interaction matter for young children.

• Where research and funding need to go next, from identifying subtypes of autism to improving access to early intervention and therapeutic schools.

To connect with Dr. Tanya Altmann check out all her resources at Drtanya.com.  Follow her on Instagram at @drtanyaaltmann.

00:00 Introduction
02:05 Meet the Guests
04:09 The Tylenol Controversy
06:41 What We Know About Autism Causes
09:02 Advances in Autism Research
14:15 The Role of Genetics and Environment
18:15 What Is Leucovorin
22:25 What Parents Are Seeing
27:10 Who Might Benefit
29:20 Micronutrients, Gut Health, and Screen Time
38:28 What Research Still Needs to Happen
45:54 Reactions to the White House Press Conference
52:41 Final Takeaways for Parents and Clinicians
55:29 Outro and Reflection

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00;00;00;00 – 00;00;18;28

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Yes, I definitely think calling it a cure-allis misleading. And I wish, I wish it was because it’s actually a very inexpensive vitamin that’s easy to get through prescription, so you know that it’s regulated since you get it from a pharmacy. And it would be wonderful if we could just give it to everybody for all different reasons. And it fixed everything.

 

00;00;19;00 – 00;00;42;05

Dr. Tanya Altmann

I think, you know, we’re learning a lot more about methylation and the methyl pathways. And look of iron is acid, which is an important, vitamin that your brain needs. And in some kids with neurodevelopmental issues, not just autism, but others as well. There are things called folate receptor autoantibodies. And that sort of, makes it so your brain doesn’t get enough acid.

 

00;00;42;12 – 00;01;04;15

Dr. Tanya Altmann

So by giving full acid, it can go straight into the brain where it’s needed to be. And in some kids with autism and we have some studies that show this, it can help either mildly or even dramatically, with increased language help with behavioral issues.

 

00;01;04;17 – 00;01;32;25

Dr. Mona

Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the PedsDocTalk podcast. I love the show. I think you know that I love this show. Not only do I get to give you solo episodes, but I also get to invite the most amazing guests and sometimes address current events, which is what I’m doing today. Back in September, there was a press conference from our current administration talking about the causes of autism, blaming acetaminophen or Tylenol, and also talking about a medication called Leucovorin.

 

00;01;32;27 – 00;02;05;10

Dr. Mona

And I’ll be honest, my initial reaction was frustration. There wasn’t a single developmental or medical professional who actually works with autistic children on that stage. The message was oversimplified, filled with cherry picked data and missing the nuance families deserve. But after that frustration settled, I thought, if this is what parents are hearing, then it’s on us, the clinicians who actually do this work, to talk about it, to learn more, to dig into the research and to give families accurate, compassionate information they can trust.

 

00;02;05;13 – 00;02;26;28

Dr. Mona

So not only did I go to my stories to ask my community of over 1.3 million followers on Instagram if they have had Leucovorin for their child, and I got an incredible amount of responses. Some families said it did nothing. Some families said that it changed their life. Some families said they took it. They didn’t really see some change, but the benefits in their mind outweighed the risk.

 

00;02;27;01 – 00;02;50;05

Dr. Mona

So then I went on my network of colleagues across the country, looking for voices that could bring both expertise and empathy to this conversation. And that’s how I found my two incredible guests for today’s episode. Doctor Tanya Altmann is a board certified pediatrician and founder of Calabasas Pediatrics Wellness Center. She runs her own solo practice, where she takes the time to really know her families and look deeper than the checklist.

 

00;02;50;09 – 00;03;16;12

Dr. Mona

She’s also the editor in chief of the American Academy of Pediatrics. Caring for your baby and young child and a mom. Tanya’s the kind of doctor who’s always learning. She attends conferences, studies new research, and keeps asking questions to better serve her patients, which I love. And I also invited Doctor Anshu Batra, a board certified developmental behavioral pediatrician with over 30 years of experience caring for children with autism, ADHD, learning differences, and other neurodevelopmental conditions.

 

00;03;16;19 – 00;03;36;26

Dr. Mona

She’s also a mom of three, including one son on the autism spectrum, which gives her work incredible depth and compassion. She’s both innovative and grounded, someone who looks at science and the child in front of her. Together, we’re unpacking what the evidence really shows, what’s still being studied, and where we need far more research and understanding when it comes to autism.

 

00;03;37;02 – 00;04;05;11

Dr. Mona

From Tylenol to look of foreign to genetics, micronutrients and early intervention. We’re talking about it all with honesty and care. And if you find this episode helpful, please download it, leave a review and share your thoughts on social media, and tag at the PedsDocTalk podcast and at PedsDocTalk and at Doctor Tanya Altman. Let’s get into this amazing conversation.

 

00;04;05;13 – 00;04;07;06

Dr. Mona

Thank you both for joining me today.

 

00;04;07;09 – 00;04;08;14

Dr. Anshu Batra

Thank you for having us.

 

00;04;08;15 – 00;04;09;17

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Thank you.

 

00;04;09;20 – 00;04;30;29

Dr. Mona

Yeah. And, you know, I wanted to jump right in. Of course, a brief introduction for both of you, I did already. But, you know, obviously, you can weave in your experience as we talk, in this conversation, but I’m going to ask you on you first. There’s been a lot of chatter after the administration’s press conference suggesting a link between acetaminophen use in pregnancy and autism.

 

00;04;30;29 – 00;04;48;12

Dr. Mona

And parents are confused, and some are even scared to use acetaminophen now. From the research we have. Is there evidence that acetaminophen in pregnancy or even after pregnancy for children can cause autism? And how should parents interpret these reports and results?

 

00;04;48;14 – 00;05;20;06

Dr. Anshu Batra

Well, the first thing I want to be very clear to, to the audience is, the short answer, no, that, there’s not, an is strong evidence that Tylenol or acetaminophen, causes autism. There are several observational studies that were done, that reported some small associations, between the use of senior medicine in, in pregnant women, and, neurodevelopmental disorders.

 

00;05;20;08 – 00;05;48;01

Dr. Anshu Batra

And but these studies, don’t, prove any cause or effect. It’s a it’s basically confusing a correlation with cause it’d be like, saying, see a meteor shower and and you have a heart attack. That meteor showers causes that heart attacks, right? It’s it’s very important to know that that, the cause can’t be, identified.

 

00;05;48;04 – 00;06;18;28

Dr. Anshu Batra

So, based on his observational studies, and and then there was also studies that were done comparing siblings in an effort to control and, environmental factors, genetic factors. And, and those studies didn’t show any, any, any direct, link or correlation. So I think it’s really important to, to, highlight that, that no, Tylenol, is not a cause for the increased risk for autism.

 

00;06;19;01 – 00;06;23;26

Dr. Anshu Batra

And, and I think, you know, I think that that’s an important thing just to share with your audience.

 

00;06;23;28 – 00;06;41;08

Dr. Mona

And for you, Tanya, as a practicing pediatrician right now, have you had conversations with your family, maybe even after this conference or before, about this misconception or other misconceptions when it comes to autism? And the causes that, you know, people, you know, assume that could be the reason.

 

00;06;41;15 – 00;07;00;13

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Yeah, I mean, I think it’s hard because we don’t know exactly what causes autism. And I just got back, actually, from an autism conference two weeks ago where there was a lot of data presented on genomics. So gene variants, which are called snips and many of them are de novo, which means they just appear in a developing baby.

 

00;07;00;13 – 00;07;22;04

Dr. Tanya Altmann

It doesn’t mean they’re passed on from mom or dad. And the interaction between many environmental factors, whether it’s medication, whether it’s fever, whether it’s illness and different trends that they’re seeing that may go on to cause neurodevelopmental issues in a developing baby. And I think there’s still a lot of research that needs to be done. It’s kind of how we used to say things were multifactorial, right?

 

00;07;22;04 – 00;07;48;00

Dr. Tanya Altmann

When we were in medical school. It means a lot of different factors can go in to, to causing this. And so I do hope we’ll have more research soon to really look into this. There’s also some great research out of Mount Sinai. There’s a doctor, Manisha Aurora, who’s been studying biomarkers and infant hair and basically linking that with pretty good accuracy at to determine who which babies are at risk for autism.

 

00;07;48;02 – 00;07;55;05

Dr. Tanya Altmann

And then the question is what can we do. You know, are there environmental things that we can do to maybe help, with their development?

 

00;07;55;07 – 00;08;20;18

Dr. Mona

This is why I was so excited to have you both on, because I wanted to kind of hear the updates in, you know, autism research and learning about, like, the genetic testing, the hair samples. I mean, that is really cool. Is there anything else you want to add to that, Tanya, about what you’ve learned at these conferences that you think is useful for the public to know, or how maybe you’ve incorporated it into your practice when it comes to diagnostic criteria or diagnosing, autism?

 

00;08;20;21 – 00;08;38;25

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Yeah. I mean, I think, you know, as a general pediatrician, everyone asks me how I got into seeing kids with autism pans, pandas or whatever it is, and I say I learn from my patients. So I’ve been practicing for 25 years now, and when patients come to me with things we can’t figure out or questions, or they’re maybe not doing well in standard treatment.

 

00;08;39;03 – 00;09;02;16

Dr. Tanya Altmann

That’s when I kind of take that time to really go out and find conferences and experts to learn more. And that’s one of the great things about medicine, is it’s as much of an art as a science. And so I’ve learned everything that I know over the years to help, you know, different families as they need it. That’s also where I learned about Leucovorin, which I think we’re going to talk about next.

 

00;09;02;19 – 00;09;26;23

Dr. Mona

Now, let’s take a quick break to hear from our sponsors who support helps us keep bringing you this show. Yeah. And you know, a big reason I’m sure that parents latch onto these headlines is because autism doesn’t have one clear concrete cause. And then when something feels uncertain it leaves the door wide open for speculation and even conspiracy theories to take hold.

 

00;09;26;23 – 00;09;48;04

Dr. Mona

Right. Like, well, because it’s such a varied spectrum, because you don’t have a reason. Let’s say that this is what it causes it. Tylenol. Acetaminophen vaccines. So from your perspective, what do we actually know about autism? If you want to add anything else to what Tanya said, and why is it so hard to get a clear answer from research on, like, the pinpoint cause?

 

00;09;48;06 – 00;10;20;03

Dr. Anshu Batra

The reason this is such a, difficult and confusing topic is because autism is a very complex neurodevelopmental disorder. And and in we don’t have a single cause. That’s the problem. It’s not like, yeah, you know, cystic fibrosis where we know we know the gene that causes it, right? And, and and as Tanya mentioned, it’s it’s a multifactorial, it’s thought to be multifactorial.

 

00;10;20;04 – 00;10;53;10

Dr. Anshu Batra

So many, many factors can play a role in development of autism. And, and, and, and what we do know is that genetics plays a really, a significant role in this, I call the genetic salt shaker. It’s a genetic salt shaker. Mom and dad combination of genes probably plays the biggest role. And then what? We also know, and what we’re, trying to figure out now, is what are the other factors that play a role, in terms of the environmental factors?

 

00;10;53;11 – 00;11;29;03

Dr. Anshu Batra

Is a toxin. Is it viruses? Right. Is it certain medications? Is it a combination of everything that then can then, set up a vulnerable neurobiol gene, which then derails development? And I think that’s why that’s why it’s so hard and that’s why it’s so confusing. It’s so complex. And, and you know what, what we it’s I interesting I always, I think about this that, we, I feel like over the last 40 or 50 years, we’ve learned so much about autism.

 

00;11;29;05 – 00;11;53;26

Dr. Anshu Batra

But the more and more we learn, I feel the the. I realize how little we know. Yeah. And and and that’s why it’s so important now to to continue to, to, look at other factors. And, and so, we do know genetics plays the largest role. And then we know that there’s other factors like, you know, maternal age, paternal age.

 

00;11;54;01 – 00;12;19;11

Dr. Anshu Batra

Yes. We know, pollution. We know there’s certain toxins that’s in exposures to certain infections, especially early on in the first trimester. Right. And prematurity that we, we know there’s, there’s certain factors that increase the risk of autism. But, but there’s no one single cause and that’s why, that’s why there’s such confusion. That’s why it’s so hard.

 

00;12;19;13 – 00;12;52;24

Dr. Anshu Batra

That’s why the, the, the goalpost keeps moving. Yeah. And, and that’s why it’s so, it’s so hard for, for our, our parents who are so confused because there’s so much information out there. There’s so much misinformation out there, which is why I’m so glad that, you know, people like you and Tanya and I are here to hopefully help clarify things and help guide parents into into, having a little more information, and, and hopefully, you know, hopefully be able to, identify and treat early.

 

00;12;52;27 – 00;13;14;22

Dr. Anshu Batra

That’s the other thing I was going to say is that one of the key factors that we do know is that early identification is important. Or early intervention. Yeah. Is important. And I know Tanya Time, this is this is the little ones. And she was she refers to me and and I love when I get the babies, and I love when I get the, you know, 15 month olds.

 

00;13;14;24 – 00;13;35;04

Dr. Anshu Batra

They’re the ones that, you know, you can you can see, a quicker or more rapid, improvement in development. So again, that’s what I think. That’s why it’s so confusing, I think for, for for families and for for the public because of the it’s not one single cause.

 

00;13;35;07 – 00;13;55;18

Dr. Mona

Yeah. And I think because of that, I think the messaging has to be such that we talk about, you know, benefit risk and what we do know, you know, even talking about acetaminophen, the sibling study that you, you alluded to. And if anyone wants more about all the studies, I’ve deep dive to the, in them in my YouTube I newsletter, we I’ve done a whole analysis on all the studies.

 

00;13;55;21 – 00;14;15;03

Dr. Mona

But, you know, it is more of understanding. Hey, here’s what we know. Now, does the biochemical or pathophysiology like, does this make sense? Like when we think about it as, you know, clinicians as a cause or as a exacerbate or of symptoms of like people are often talking about ADHD as well, you know, like red dye and things like that.

 

00;14;15;03 – 00;14;45;00

Dr. Mona

Like we have to think about not being so black and white and how we educate, but also in terms of being open, like you are, Tanya, to going to the conferences, learning from other educators on like, is there something innovative? I love that you talked about the genetic testing and almost like the hair testing, because like I’ve also become very interested in like genome and exome testing and like, like you said, is testing going to change the outcome like it’s not you know, a lot of people used to genetically test for Down’s syndrome.

 

00;14;45;00 – 00;15;09;09

Dr. Mona

And there was a lot of controversy behind that because now we see a lot of families who are like very pro, you know, Down’s syndrome advocacy. It’s like if you knew that your child had autism, is it going to change anything? Or is it going to mean earlier intervention? Right. Which is what we all are hoping for. And so there’s a lot of like things up in the air of like if we actually can test if we have a genetic marker, what are we going to do with that information?

 

00;15;09;09 – 00;15;27;27

Dr. Mona

And I think that that is why I was excited about the conference, because it started this discussion in a mainstream way of like, hey, autism is here. What can we look into? I just hope that it I wish it wasn’t as filled with like absolutes and misinformation, because that can confuse a lot of people.

 

00;15;27;29 – 00;15;53;15

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Yeah. And I think that’s the biggest thing is that there are no absolutes. You mentioned genomics. I’ve started doing some genomics testing on my patients, and usually the ones that want it are the ones that have neurodevelopmental issues, or they have a sibling with neurodevelopmental issues. And when you look at all the genetics and you’ll see all the snips, what it does, it identifies the rare variants which might be why your child reacts differently to different environmental triggers.

 

00;15;53;17 – 00;16;12;04

Dr. Tanya Altmann

It’s still is very confusing because not everybody responds the same. I mean, think about the meat of our gene, for example, which I think has gotten a bad rap for a lot of the things that we see, many of us that are homozygous for are don’t have any of the issues that people are reporting yet. Some are more sensitive.

 

00;16;12;10 – 00;16;35;24

Dr. Tanya Altmann

And so I think there’s, you know, each gene can respond differently to different environmental triggers. And that’s what makes this so complex and so hard. Especially when you’re talking about our country as a whole, it would be amazing if we could do individualized, personalized medicine for everybody in our country. And I think we’re getting closer. But it’s also challenging because there’s so many of us.

 

00;16;35;26 – 00;16;48;12

Dr. Mona

Oh, absolutely. And and that’s exactly it. And that because this is such a multifactorial situation and that there’s so many factors, even in the genetics of it all, it’s really hard to say. It’s one size fits all. And I, I appreciate that.

 

00;16;48;12 – 00;17;22;10

Dr. Anshu Batra

Back in the day, back in the day when I, you know, when, when, when when I was training, the extent of genetic testing was really doing karyotype, which was really just, which was really just looking to see, the number of chromosomes, for trisomy 21, for example. Right. For Down’s syndrome. Right. But over the last, I would say 30 years, the, the, the innovation in genetics is really increased to now we’re not only able to see, the number of chromosomes, but also the deletions and duplications.

 

00;17;22;10 – 00;17;57;22

Dr. Anshu Batra

Like what? Tommy was mentioning, as well as, now we’re able to actually see, like, misspelled words, you know, in a, in a chapter book, if you think, you know, the genetic variants that we’re talking about and, and then seeing what the associations are with that and and neurodevelopmental disorders, or other medical conditions. So it’s, it’s so I think the genetic testing is, is, is is an important piece to this, along with, you know, the other treatment modalities that we’re talking about.

 

00;17;57;24 – 00;18;15;22

Dr. Mona

And I’m excited to stay in touch with you all. Like as you learn more, I can learn more. You know, in case I don’t get that information, like, it’s a superhero effort of, like, going to the conferences and learning from others and sharing that information because like you said, Tanya, it’s not as mainstream for a lot of our other Gen colleagues to know this stuff.

 

00;18;15;22 – 00;18;34;22

Dr. Mona

Right. And so it’s really nice that we can do that. And, you know, my next question is talking about that Leucovorin, you know, so the title of this question is for you. The press conference presented Leucovorin almost like it’s a cure families can just ask for at the doctor’s office, and that you should get it. Like it wasn’t like nuance, which I think it should be.

 

00;18;34;29 – 00;18;45;20

Dr. Mona

So since both of you actually prescribe Leucovorin, Tanya, do you think you can explain what it really is, what role it can play, and whether calling it a cure all is misleading?

 

00;18;45;22 – 00;19;04;23

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Yes, I definitely think calling it a cure all is misleading, and I wish I wish it was because it’s actually a very inexpensive vitamin that’s easy to get through prescription. So you know that it’s regulated since you get it from a pharmacy. And it would be wonderful if we could just give it to everybody for all different reasons and it fix everything.

 

00;19;04;25 – 00;19;28;01

Dr. Tanya Altmann

I think, you know, we’re learning a lot more about methylation and the methyl pathways. And Leucovorin is folinic acid, which is an important, vitamin that your brain needs. And in some kids with neurodevelopmental issues, not just autism, but others as well. There are things called folate receptor autoantibodies. And that sort of, makes it so your brain doesn’t get enough acid.

 

00;19;28;07 – 00;19;49;21

Dr. Tanya Altmann

So by giving full like acid, it can go straight into the brain where it’s needed to be. And in some kids with autism and we have some studies that show this, it can help either mildly or even dramatically, with increased language help with behavioral issues. And I have seen that in some cases in my office, but not in every case.

 

00;19;49;21 – 00;20;07;04

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Right now, there is testing you could do to see if a child has the folate receptor autoantibodies. It’s called the Frat test, but it’s an expensive test. It’s, vena puncture, which means it’s a poke. And often in some of these little guys, the toddlers, we don’t always want to poke them as that’s traumatic and hard to do.

 

00;20;07;06 – 00;20;24;29

Dr. Tanya Altmann

And the test takes 4 to 6 weeks. And I’ve actually talked to the researchers at the lab, and I think it’s a fascinating test. And I’m so glad it’s available when needed, but it’s just not yet available for everybody. So the question is, do you need to test everyone to do a trial on Leucovorin? And I think that’s very debated.

 

00;20;25;01 – 00;20;40;29

Dr. Tanya Altmann

I’ve tested a few of my patients, but others, I’ve just started on the Leucovorin. So how do I start it? I start with five milligrams a day and I write the prescription. Usually it’s covered by insurance. It’s a tablet. So you can crush it, though, and mix it with anything. The child’s eating. It doesn’t taste bad.

 

00;20;41;04 – 00;20;47;12

Dr. Tanya Altmann

And just so you know, I do taste every medication I prescribe for my patients because with kids taste matters so much.

 

00;20;47;15 – 00;20;55;18

Dr. Mona

What a good doctor I do the same with. Like I’ve done more. I’ve when I get access to antibiotics, you know, and things like that. If I can, I’m like, let’s see what happens here. Yeah.

 

00;20;55;20 – 00;21;16;10

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Exam. And so you mix it into whatever they’re eating. And then I usually increase it by five milligrams a week. And if you look at the studies some of the studies go up to high doses like 50mg a day. I personally haven’t gone higher than 30mg a day in my patients. It’s also weight dependent, and most of my patients tend to be younger, so that could be why.

 

00;21;16;12 – 00;21;37;17

Dr. Tanya Altmann

The really only side effect is that in some kids, it can cause hyperactivity. You know, I haven’t quite figured out if the hyperactivity just happens in some kids or it happens in the kids that don’t need it because I had one child with autism who was in first grade, who ran around the classroom in circles when he was on the acid, and I talked to many experts around the country and some said, stop it.

 

00;21;37;23 – 00;21;53;22

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Some said, decrease the dose. And so I talked to the parents about decreasing the dose or stopping it. But the parents actually didn’t listen to me. They just kept giving it. And a week later he stopped running around in circles and they said his language actually improved a lot. So I was kind of glad they didn’t listen to me.

 

00;21;53;25 – 00;22;15;29

Dr. Tanya Altmann

So I think it is variable and it takes that time to sort of tinker with it and figure out if it if it is helpful. But I also find that it’s not only for clinic acid, but there’s other B vitamins you want to supplement to also support the pathways. And then a lot of these kids, the ones that we do poke and get labs on our micronutrients, we do see that they’re low in iron, they’re low in zinc, they’re low in a lot of other things.

 

00;22;16;05 – 00;22;25;20

Dr. Tanya Altmann

So again, it is wonderful when we can do personalized nutrition and supplement plans for everybody. But it’s not it’s not always practical.

 

00;22;25;22 – 00;22;42;14

Dr. Mona

That’s so fascinating. I after the press conference and after you know digesting the information I myself don’t prescribe looking for and yet you know I say yet because of course maybe I will in the future. And I wanted to learn from other of my colleagues like yourself, I asked my followers on my community, you know, I have this large online community.

 

00;22;42;14 – 00;22;57;26

Dr. Mona

And I said, hey, if any of you are willing and have had your child on Leucovorin, do you mind just sharing your, experience on this form? You know, obviously don’t you don’t have to put a name on there. I’m just curious. And I got about 20 responses, which is a lot in my opinion. And like you said, it was very mixed.

 

00;22;57;29 – 00;23;16;05

Dr. Mona

The the response that I got overall was that they felt like the benefit outweighed risk, like no one felt like there was these awful side effects. And I’ll ask if that was what you’ve seen in your practice. And then I did get that comment that the language explosion happened, like for a lot of the people who felt like it did work, they said that it helped with language, as the biggest thing.

 

00;23;16;05 – 00;23;32;19

Dr. Mona

So I’m curious, I can ask you, Tanya, and then unto you, if you also prescribe the look of orange, is that what you’re seeing as well from your families who’ve used it, that the benefits have outweighed risk? And also the biggest benefit has been in language, you know, language, progression.

 

00;23;32;21 – 00;23;50;07

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Yes, exactly. And I think there’s very little risk to taking, this vitamin. And we know, as with all B vitamins, sometimes it does cause kids to be energetic. Yeah, I take too much B vitamins and drink my coffee in the morning. I can be a little, you know, 1 or 2. But I think in the patients that it helps, it dramatically helps.

 

00;23;50;13 – 00;24;04;18

Dr. Tanya Altmann

And the parents are so thankful. And so I think it’s an easy thing to add in to see if it helps. Or you could pursue some of the testing to see if maybe your child would benefit from it.

 

00;24;04;21 – 00;24;12;20

Dr. Mona

Now let’s take a quick break to hear from our sponsors who support helps us keep bringing you this show.

 

00;24;12;22 – 00;24;34;12

Dr. Anshu Batra

So listen, there were a couple studies that were done over the last decade or so, looking at Leucovorine and, and its effect on, children with autism. And, and it definitely, showed some improvement, especially in language development and speech and language and, and in some, some of the social sort of, socialization or social skills improvement.

 

00;24;34;14 – 00;24;58;24

Dr. Anshu Batra

And, I think that in my, in my experience, I’ve started using Leucovorin. I, like Tanya and probably like the 20 other pediatricians that responded to you and finding sort of a mixed bag here. When it works, it works. And I would say, most of the time it’s been masked.

 

00;24;58;26 – 00;25;25;19

Dr. Anshu Batra

It’s been sort of a, sort of a, unequivocal. But, I would say that, I’ve had cases where, I’ve seen parents have reported improvement in language, improvement in, ability to self-regulate or improvement in, interest in socialization. And I see young as well as, older, young adult, individuals as well.

 

00;25;25;19 – 00;25;49;16

Dr. Anshu Batra

And so I’ll, I’ll use the higher doses, might start at five milligrams, like, Tommy does, and ramp it up pretty quickly to, to the higher doses of maybe up to, anywhere from 25 to 50mg, based on what the study showed. And like I said, I, I think the benefits outweigh the risks.

 

00;25;49;19 – 00;26;09;25

Dr. Anshu Batra

And so, I tend to start it without doing any blood test, without doing the test because it’s expensive. It’s a blood test. Very often our patients don’t like needles. And, and so, I talk to the parents and and, and if they agree and they want to move forward, then we do it.

 

00;26;09;25 – 00;26;39;08

Dr. Anshu Batra

And like I said, it, it’s when it works, it works. And I think that’s what’s made me more willing to try. Yeah. Than, than not try. And is it something that we that we have to offer and, and, and even if it moves the needle a little bit, it’s worth it. That the side effects as, as Tommy mentioned is, but when I’ve seen I’ve had of two kiddos, especially the younger ones and, have more of the irritability, impulsivity, and how I’ll lower the doses or take it off.

 

00;26;39;10 – 00;26;58;27

Dr. Mona

And, you know, so I, I totally respect the fact that we’re not checking blood work on everybody, because of the cost and the invasiveness of having to do a, vena puncture. So, like a, official blood draw. So is there, like, a certain type of patient candidate, maybe the level of the autism? Or is it been that also just the parents have asked for it and there’s just a mutual decision making?

 

00;26;59;03 – 00;27;10;00

Dr. Mona

Or do you guys have your own personal criteria on when you say, you know what, I’m not checking blood work, but this is a type of patient that I think is going to benefit from this, this treatment approach. And Tony, if you want to start first.

 

00;27;10;00 – 00;27;28;22

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Sure. I think it’s something that I bring up with all my families. I’m just I do a lot of detailed nutrition intakes in my office, too. And a lot of these kids are picky. You’re right. Yeah. I eat just a beige diet. And so I worked with a lot of different supplements over the years. I really like micronutrients in these kids.

 

00;27;28;22 – 00;27;47;13

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Also, I think many of them need a really good micronutrient vitamin. And so it’s just something that I discuss along with everything else. And most of my families want to try it and we try it. And I have to say that I’ve also tried it and other neurodevelopmental disorders that are not autism diagnoses.

 

00;27;47;15 – 00;28;22;12

Dr. Anshu Batra

I agree. I mean, I in general, doing bloodwork is part of my workup. But again, as we’re talking about, children who may be, averse to, to having, you know, blood draw, we might wait. But in general, as time you mentioned, that’s part of a part of the standard workup for me is to do blood work looking at, common, things such as thyroid, thyroid, and, in iron levels and some of the other micronutrients that she mentioned.

 

00;28;22;12 – 00;28;59;07

Dr. Anshu Batra

But also looking at some of the mitochondrial cofactors, they can also, play a role in the overall, metabolism and function. So I think that that’s important. So again, you know, we’re talking about Leucovorin in here, and, you know, a folate supplement. I think the broader issue here is really looking at the overall metabolism and the overall sort of physiologic health of the child and see what other factors can play a role in, in, in, in their development behavior.

 

00;28;59;10 – 00;29;20;21

Dr. Mona

It is nice hearing clinicians talk about this. And I think our listeners are going to really appreciate that. Any child that we approach looking at it as not just like, okay, it’s no developmental, it’s just genetic. That’s what you have to deal with. But what else can we do to support everything? Right? I mean, I think we all agree here how much nutrition can impact every part of our life, right?

 

00;29;20;21 – 00;29;44;11

Dr. Mona

I also I’m a big believer and I think, Tanya, I believe you are the same in gut health. Like I’m really interested in gut health and I think until you are too, like as well. And like how that where’s that connection there? Not that we’re saying that your lack of doing this is causing the autism or causing this, but can we support the child so that symptoms aren’t as severe or that maybe, like you said, you guys are both checking nutrient profiles.

 

00;29;44;17 – 00;30;06;07

Dr. Mona

Have you found have either of you found and maybe Tanya, you can answer this first barriers in getting those labs done or cost issues. You know, obviously because we know that this is not standard protocol, right. It’s not like, okay, every pediatrician should be checking this. Have you had any barriers in getting these tests done. And I’m talking just like basic nutrient profiles or anything like that.

 

00;30;06;09 – 00;30;07;10

Dr. Mona

For your families.

 

00;30;07;13 – 00;30;30;08

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Yeah. I mean, cost is always a factor because it’s not all going to be covered under insurance. The micronutrient panel that I use is $199, which is a barrier for many. But I also feel like in the scheme of all the genetic testing, it’s pretty affordable. So that’s one that I like to use. But even just doing a basic ferritin, vitamin D, you can get a lot through basic blood work that can go with insurance.

 

00;30;30;10 – 00;30;43;00

Dr. Tanya Altmann

I am lucky and that one of my nurses is an amazing phlebotomist and draws on the little kids. And clearly some of them still don’t want the blood work, but that’s helped so much to not have to send my patients to the labs.

 

00;30;43;02 – 00;30;45;22

Dr. Mona

I love that, and what about for you? Unsure.

 

00;30;45;24 – 00;31;12;15

Dr. Anshu Batra

Yeah, I mean, I, I think, cost is always a barrier for I think for most people, and, and I’m very mindful of that, but I think parents are willing to do what it takes very often. And, like Tanya, a lot of the lab work initially. Hopefully will be covered under insurance and, and, some that goes to, outside labs will not be.

 

00;31;12;15 – 00;31;36;09

Dr. Anshu Batra

And hopefully the cost, is something that the parents are willing to, you know, incur. And what I’m finding, though, is, is that these labs, so things like micronutrients and genetics and things like that, I’m finding as they’re getting better and better, they’re actually more mindful of the, the cost. And so the price point tends to be a little bit more affordable.

 

00;31;36;11 – 00;31;44;07

Dr. Anshu Batra

And but again, it’s just I have that discussion with parents and, and and let them make the decision and, and we work that way.

 

00;31;44;12 – 00;31;57;21

Dr. Tanya Altmann

You know, there are a lot of different outside tests that we can do. And so I try to discuss with parents and be very mindful of, is this going to change what we’re doing. Right. So yes, in some cases I want to check their gut microbiome. But in other cases I just want to give them a good probiotic.

 

00;31;57;21 – 00;32;15;18

Dr. Tanya Altmann

In some cases I want to check their micronutrients, but in other cases I just want them to take a really good multi mineral vitamin every day. And so we kind of talk about the pros and cons. And maybe we weighed on the testing and we just start some of the interventions that I think might be helpful. And then if we end up hitting a barrier then we’ll add in specific testing.

 

00;32;15;26 – 00;32;22;02

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Because I also don’t want to do all this testing that’s not going to change what we’re working on with the family.

 

00;32;22;06 – 00;32;44;16

Dr. Anshu Batra

Right? I mean, to to add to that, for me, my standard protocol would be, I get all my kids on, good brains at the omega three. Nice. And, and, even in sunny California, we, we have a, an epidemic of low vitamin D levels. And so I like to boost seven D levels with, with extra vitamin D.

 

00;32;44;19 – 00;33;08;27

Dr. Anshu Batra

I like to get, all my kids, a good multivitamin. There’s one that I think works sunny and I use of spectrum needs. It’s a powder form. You mix it in water, and it’s it’s, relatively okay. Tastes of kids will take it, and it’s just kids again, it provides a lot of the micronutrients that the kids are not getting in the standard American diet.

 

00;33;09;00 – 00;33;29;15

Dr. Anshu Batra

And then, I, I also like to get my kids on a good, the probiotic, that, that, hopefully they’ll take. And so at least that’s, that’s a good way to start. And then based on bloodwork and other lab work that we do, we can add and to that.

 

00;33;29;18 – 00;33;49;26

Dr. Mona

I love my podcast. I love my podcast because I learn so much from some of my guests sometimes. And this is one of those things like, I love this. I’m it’s just so nice to hear about what y’all are looking at. I mean, it’s stuff that I would obviously consider as well, but having you all both do this on a regular basis, especially, you know, not every pediatrician is going to do that.

 

00;33;49;26 – 00;34;06;28

Dr. Mona

It’s really nice. And I hope a lot of our listeners who may be clinicians are feeling more interested in learning about this. You know, that is my hope from this conversation that it’s not only for parents, but it’s also for parents now to be able to take this episode and conversation to their doctor and be like, hey, I’m interested in this.

 

00;34;06;28 – 00;34;18;10

Dr. Mona

Like, is this something we can chat about? And if the doctor is not amenable or doesn’t know what to do, they can learn about it, because that’s how we get better for our patients. And so thank you, Anthony, I know you were about to say something as well.

 

00;34;18;12 – 00;34;36;26

Dr. Tanya Altmann

I was going to say that, you know, the other thing I do is my regular healthy babies when they’re born. So you don’t know if they’re going to develop autism or anything. But I try to really start them early on with extra bifidobacteria for their gut. I add in Omega, since you mentioned how important that was at six months of age.

 

00;34;36;26 – 00;35;01;14

Dr. Tanya Altmann

All my babies are on Omegas vitamin D starting from birth, and depending on what they’re feeding, I may add in other vitamins. And I know it’s confusing because we want our kids to get their nutrition and vitamins from food, but we also know that they’re just not. And so I do I do really try to frontload all that, good health and things that I think might help change the trajectory as they’re getting older.

 

00;35;01;20 – 00;35;25;27

Dr. Tanya Altmann

And the one thing we also didn’t mention was screen time. And I met with a new pediatric neurologist a few weeks ago that’s been doing research on how early screen time can also change some of the connectivity in your brain and again, not cause autism, but might change the way kids develop, and affect neurodevelopmental conditions a lot of different ways.

 

00;35;25;29 – 00;35;36;10

Dr. Tanya Altmann

So I think there’s still so much we’re learning, but so much education we can do as general pediatricians early on to really help our little ones be healthy and have a great long health span.

 

00;35;36;12 – 00;35;54;25

Dr. Mona

Fascinating. Oh my gosh. I mean, let me think about like, I mean, obviously, again, I appreciate you saying that it’s not causing it, but it’s not helping situations. And of course we have to take that nuanced approach that yeah, if there’s a lot of screen time happening or is there a certain limit that we are causing this sort of rewiring to happen when the brain is so malleable?

 

00;35;54;25 – 00;35;59;08

Dr. Mona

I mean, especially early screen time use for your younger kids? I think it’s so fascinating.

 

00;35;59;11 – 00;36;38;01

Dr. Anshu Batra

That this would be another this would be another topic for your podcast. But, yeah, what Tanya’s referring to is, Jonathan Haidt book called, The Anxious Generation. I don’t know if you’ve read that or not, but that’s a that’s a, amazing. He’s he’s chronicled sort of, over 30 years, the, the change in society in terms of, the, the, the phones, the iPhones and how then it’s correlated with, children’s, anxiety levels and, and, and social sort of, social isolation issues and, just fascinating.

 

00;36;38;01 – 00;36;43;11

Dr. Anshu Batra

So I know that’s, that’s something that, I think we, we all, we all sort of caution and help.

 

00;36;43;12 – 00;36;51;16

Dr. Mona

In the book. Does he go into the early like this connection of the ADHD, autism, neurodiversity connection? What screens are not more so anxiety in teenagers?

 

00;36;51;22 – 00;37;26;24

Dr. Anshu Batra

It’s really more anxiety and, depression, especially in girls early on. And it’s also on socialization and social skills and lack of, connection. So, any, any, any topic really about, you know, the in correlates really at the time in terms. Yeah. The early 2000, start of, you know, the iPhone and, and the rise over ten years, of, of anxiety and depression symptoms in, in adolescence, especially in girls.

 

00;37;26;27 – 00;37;51;01

Dr. Anshu Batra

But it’s a fascinating so it’s I know, the, the, our neurologists that we, that we refer to very often. Well, send this podcast that, really talks about Jonathan Haidt and, and his, and his work, really cautioning parents about, early seasons, of the iPhone and iPad for the children and limiting screen time.

 

00;37;51;03 – 00;38;09;09

Dr. Anshu Batra

Yeah. Talking about more, you know, just common sense things like, you know, going outside and playing and. Yeah, and turning off your phones and having more, you know, interactional time, you know, as a family and the things that are common sense that. Yeah. Now we have to kind of prescribe.

 

00;38;09;10 – 00;38;10;25

Dr. Mona

Yeah. The basics. Yes.

 

00;38;11;02 – 00;38;28;17

Dr. Tanya Altmann

And I was talking about research going on at Cedars-Sinai here in Los Angeles about the younger kids, and neurodevelopmental issues. And they’re doing a ten year study. And I think they just published their data halfway through. So we’re going to be learning more and more. Also on the effects of screen time in those younger kids.

 

00;38;28;20 – 00;38;46;14

Dr. Mona

So fascinating. I cannot wait to read more about this. Like I said, it’s so important for us to stay up to date. That is part of practicing medicine. And, you know, one of my biggest questions for both of you is we’re talking about all of this, right? The research, whether it’s about genetic testing, making that more accessible, evaluations.

 

00;38;46;17 – 00;39;10;13

Dr. Mona

From your perspective, what kind of research is still needed to better understand autism, whether we’re talking about possible causes or supportive therapies? And where do you wish more funding or more resources or education would go into when we talk about autism in your dream Crystal ball, I want this magic wand world. Where do you wish more and more things, more resources can go?

 

00;39;10;13 – 00;39;13;20

Dr. Mona

When we think about autism. And I’ll start with you, on shoe.

 

00;39;13;22 – 00;39;36;25

Dr. Anshu Batra

Wow, this is a great question. This is, this is my my my my wish. Right. So I think, very important question. As I said before, we’ve learned a lot about autism over the last few decades, but but, we know so little and, research is is essential that we do, to learn more about the genetics of autism.

 

00;39;36;25 – 00;40;19;19

Dr. Anshu Batra

But actually, not only the genetics, but the environmental factors that play a role. And, and so, so really, from my standpoint, what I would love and what we really need, is really, more research, looking at the subtypes of autism, because that’s really what we’re seeing in my practice over 30 years. I, I’ve developed, a, an approach to be able to, to really, look at children with autism and, and be able to almost subtype them and, and based on that and it allows us to, to better, develop a program to help, treat and improve those symptoms.

 

00;40;19;21 – 00;40;47;25

Dr. Anshu Batra

And so that’s really what’s critical is we need to, have better research to subtype autism. I think we need to be doing, research to look at treatments and other treatments that we’re doing in the community that we’re actually doing off label. Yeah. And I know Tanya and I would love to have more research to help support us in, in what we’re recommending to our patients.

 

00;40;47;27 – 00;41;06;26

Dr. Anshu Batra

There’s a lot out there that people are doing. There’s a lot out there that that we, our, looking at, as as I, as I, as I say that I look under I never say no to anything. I look at what’s out there, I look at the research out there, look at and see what it might be doing.

 

00;41;06;26 – 00;41;27;06

Dr. Anshu Batra

And and again, we’re all physicians. We all took an oath to do no harm. So that’s our first, task here is to do no harm, but then to really look at things critically and see what is it and what profile of patient is it that could maybe be benefited from this intervention versus something else. And I think that’s that’s what I do.

 

00;41;27;09 – 00;41;56;17

Dr. Anshu Batra

That’s what I feel like I do I know that’s what Tanya does. It’s not a one size fits all. It’s very personalized and individualized based on the presentation of the patient, what their strengths are, what their challenges are. And and really, that’s what we need to do is really, help to identify treatments in the community that are already being done to then, help individualize and help, improve the symptoms.

 

00;41;56;19 – 00;42;39;07

Dr. Anshu Batra

The other thing that I, and now, because I have a son who’s in his late 20s with autism, and I’ve been in this journey now for, over two decades. I think there needs to be more research looking at, and more not not even research, but more, opportunities and, interventions to help adult individuals with autism, to help them find a, a skill set, a vocation, something that, takes their strengths and helps them find some, something meaningful to do, in a environment where it’s valued.

 

00;42;39;10 – 00;42;54;05

Dr. Anshu Batra

Yeah. So I think, I think after, after children turn, 22 out of the school district, it’s dismal. So I know we’re talking to a population with younger kids, but I think that’s also, a wish of mine is to see similar opportunities for young adults.

 

00;42;54;07 – 00;42;59;05

Dr. Mona

I love that. And, Tanya, I know you share a lot of those same feelings, but anything else you would add?

 

00;42;59;07 – 00;43;11;25

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Yeah. You know, if you asked me for a wish as a general pediatrician who is always helping parents find daycares, preschools, elementary schools and high schools, I would like to see more therapeutic schools across the.

 

00;43;11;25 – 00;43;13;01

Dr. Anshu Batra

U.S..

 

00;43;13;03 – 00;43;35;16

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Only to have access to them, where the kids can go in and get the speech therapy, the occupational therapy, and everything they need in smaller settings. There are a few schools around the country that do a really good job, but they’re not everywhere. And even out in my area outside of Los Angeles, we have very few of those, schools and they’re so hard to get into, not even cast aside.

 

00;43;35;16 – 00;43;54;26

Dr. Tanya Altmann

There’s a waiting list right? And it’s a lottery. And I think that’s really what we need because we know how how important that early intervention is. And even though we need more research, to figure out all the new things to do, we have a lot of things we know that work well right now, but we just can’t get it to all of the kids who need it everywhere.

 

00;43;54;28 – 00;44;14;16

Dr. Mona

Wow, I love it just because we’ve I mean, between both of those answers, we’ve tackled every part of the story, right? Not only understanding the why, which is what we talk about with research and then also understanding the support that these children need. And that support comes in the way of not just medication like Leucovorin, but older adults are autistic adults.

 

00;44;14;16 – 00;44;30;26

Dr. Mona

And then the younger kids and I share that same sentiment. Of course, I care more about, you know, I really am very interested in the research and the why. And like you said, finding actual genetic markers. Can we find out, can we, you know, have different sort of stratification and, and more understanding of, okay, this is the subtype.

 

00;44;30;26 – 00;44;49;17

Dr. Mona

And that’s really cool. And then for me it’s also access to early intervention, right in Florida where I practice right now. At the time of this recording, we’re we’re like one of the bottom of the, in the country for being able to get services for children. So not only in schools, but like just getting the early intervention.

 

00;44;49;17 – 00;45;14;09

Dr. Mona

So you’re dealing with clinicians who are not even able to be open to the situation of like, okay, how can I support my patients in other unique ways? But then you’re also dealing with families who don’t have the developmental resources. And we know how that impacts parenting, right? We all can understand that parenting already is hard. But I will say this that parenting a neurodiverse child is its own degree of difficulty, right?

 

00;45;14;09 – 00;45;34;13

Dr. Mona

I mean, there is normal parenting strategies will not always work with your autistic child. And when parents don’t get that support, they burn out marriages. I’ve seen so many marriages end because of autism and it’s I’m not even like. And it breaks my heart because I know that it’s because of the stress of not having support, you know?

 

00;45;34;13 – 00;45;54;14

Dr. Mona

And that is what I think we all want. And, you know, my final question for you is, you know, this press conference brought up a lot of feelings. Did you have any feelings from the press conference? Feelings of hope, feelings of, oh, that’s not how it should be. Or what was your, like, initial reaction to this hour long press conference from the president and some of the hires in our administration?

 

00;45;54;14 – 00;46;08;08

Dr. Mona

And and in terms of the autism, you know, solutions and, and treatments that we have. Now, let’s take a quick break to hear from our sponsors who support helps us keep bringing you this show.

 

00;46;08;11 – 00;46;45;16

Dr. Anshu Batra

Oh, from my standpoint, when I heard it, I have to tell you, I think I was as a as a mother of a now young adult with autism, I think I was, I was really angry. I think initially, it saddens me. Yeah. I think that it it it shed a light or highlighted, the how or what perhaps a mom might have done to, to to to cause the autism and their child.

 

00;46;45;16 – 00;47;13;00

Dr. Anshu Batra

And I feel like I’ve spent over 30 years, helping parents, helping moms, overcome that. That, that that guilt and and helping them understand that. No, it’s not something you did or didn’t do. This is this is the genetic salt shaker. And we don’t know all the other facts factors to play a role in this, but it’s not something you did.

 

00;47;13;02 – 00;47;43;10

Dr. Anshu Batra

And so that was my initial reaction. Now of the weeks as I’ve had time to think more about it and talk more about it, I think, I’m feeling a little bit more hopeful that, you know, autism is being highlighted, so that’s a good thing. That, we’re having these discussions, in terms of, how important autism is, how important not to the researchers, how important it is to find, treatments, and, and support for our families.

 

00;47;43;13 – 00;48;20;02

Dr. Anshu Batra

And so I’m hoping that this, sheds a light and, and opens the, opens more research funding, opens more, availability for that. And, so I’m hopeful from, from that standpoint. And I’m also hoping that parents, are not living in fear because I think, I think, I think the fear is one of the biggest, biggest factors here that we as pediatricians, it’s our job to help, help parents feel more at ease and help partner with them to help them, you know, help, help and parents.

 

00;48;20;02 – 00;48;22;19

Dr. Anshu Batra

So that that was my I’m feeling.

 

00;48;22;21 – 00;48;23;29

Dr. Mona

Tanya, what about you?

 

00;48;24;01 – 00;48;56;11

Dr. Tanya Altmann

So I wish we had heard it from people with more medical background or experience. Right. As we were listening, I thought, this doesn’t really make sense. They’re talking about really important things, but it doesn’t make sense. And, and it’s always bothered me that medicine and health care has become so politicized over the last handful of years, especially since the pandemic, because we have amazing healthcare leaders and doctors and scientists and even parents who have cared for their own kids with autism.

 

00;48;56;14 – 00;49;17;12

Dr. Tanya Altmann

My family’s know more than I do, and they’re not doctors. Right? But I feel like, we could have heard it from somebody with a little bit more caring and empathy and science behind it. So that kind of bothered me. And then I also didn’t love the the answer to the backlash that I knew we were going to get from both sides.

 

00;49;17;12 – 00;49;40;22

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Right. Whatever your side on right, then you have medical organizations saying, absolutely not. Tylenol is absolutely safe. Okay, well, nothing is absolutely safe. Okay. But yes, we know that nothing that they said showed that Tylenol caused autism. But let’s still talk about, you know, when you’re pregnant and everybody now that’s pregnant is terrified. It reminds me of when Paul Offit talks about how people were terrified to let their kids learn to swim.

 

00;49;40;22 – 00;50;05;20

Dr. Tanya Altmann

But because of polio right now, moms are terrified to have babies because they’re worried about autism. And I think I wish our approach was different in this country. I also think unfortunately, a lot depends on the insurance system, which I, I don’t love that what so many doctors do depends on what insurance would cover and how much time insurance will let them spend with families.

 

00;50;05;22 – 00;50;26;15

Dr. Tanya Altmann

And honestly, I think that’s what allowed me to become a better pediatrician ten years ago when I stopped taking insurance. And again, it’s not for everybody, but I can spend hours with my families now. I can fly to conferences for them. I can really research and learn about all these new things. And so I do feel guilty for the pediatricians at my old practice who have ten minutes to see every patient because they don’t have the time to do that.

 

00;50;26;17 – 00;50;40;18

Dr. Tanya Altmann

And every child is so unique and different. It’s not a protocol. Yeah. And, and I think we need to get back to personalized, individualized medicine in our country. And I don’t know how to solve that problem, I really don’t. So I just try to advocate and help each patient I see.

 

00;50;40;21 – 00;51;06;26

Dr. Mona

Well, that’s what you’re doing. Yeah. That’s what you’re doing. And I mean I so I’m in the in your realm of like I have 65% of my patients are Medicaid, the ten minute visits, you know, at my clinic that I’m not there every day, but I am there on Fridays. And it is hard. I mean, I agree, and I know you are now like a no insurance taking clinician, but the work that you’re doing by going to the conferences, coming on my show, I mean, I want you to know that this is what it’s about, right?

 

00;51;06;26 – 00;51;25;14

Dr. Mona

It’s using our time and our expertise and our powers to really say, okay, how can I better this for everyone? Because maybe those conferences you go to, you’re now a voice on social media. Tanya, to be like, hey, this is what I’m learning and this is what I think we should know more about. And it’s that advocacy piece that can reach even more voices, more ears.

 

00;51;25;14 – 00;51;46;21

Dr. Mona

And I think that’s that’s awesome. But I hear what you’re saying and it is a hard reality. And I felt the same way with the conference on show, like seeing it being upset and angry of like, Tony. You saying that? Why is it the president who has no knowledge in autism or in, you know, neurodevelopment or anything related to medicine or development, making the main statements number one.

 

00;51;46;21 – 00;52;06;09

Dr. Mona

Number two is that what stigmas is creating and blame. And then after I sat with it, it was that realization that, okay, now we get to talk about this and maybe we can have these voices like we’re doing today together to be like, hey, this is what we want you to know. And I am just loving what we talked about because this is, again, what I’m hoping to do in medicine as well.

 

00;52;06;09 – 00;52;24;24

Dr. Mona

Like you said, Tanya is individualized care and ask the tough questions. Be willing to take a risk and say, you know what, this may be off label, but let me talk to you because it’s individualized care. And that’s so awesome. So, you know, I’m very grateful that you both came on today. I think we really hit a lot of areas.

 

00;52;24;24 – 00;52;41;23

Dr. Mona

Of course, we could have many different conversations about screens and neurodevelopment. And I found my think tank here and I love that. What would be your final important message? You’d want parents listening or even clinicians listening to Walk Away with today regarding autism research and treatments as well.

 

00;52;41;25 – 00;53;20;09

Dr. Anshu Batra

What I’d like, parents to know that, again, autism is very complex. It’s not a one stop shop. That, that Tylenol doesn’t cause autism, that local learning is not the cure. I think it’s, important for parents and clinicians to, understand how complex this disorder is, to understand the nuances, to really focus on the strengths of the child, as opposed to focusing on the on the diagnosis.

 

00;53;20;14 – 00;53;51;16

Dr. Anshu Batra

I think that’s that’s what I know I do and Tanya does. And so really focus on, the strengths and the challenges and see what does the child need to, to, to be more functional to, to improve on the, on the, on the areas that they, that they struggle in. But then how can we help, help the child to be as highly functional as possible in our society and have a meaningful and, and, and, and purposeful existence, like we all deserve?

 

00;53;51;18 – 00;53;53;08

Dr. Anshu Batra

That’s what I would like to share.

 

00;53;53;11 – 00;53;55;11

Dr. Mona

I love that and Tanya.

 

00;53;55;17 – 00;54;19;05

Dr. Tanya Altmann

And that is great. I mean, I would say that, you know, I want parents to know that as a parent, they know their child best and they really are their child’s best advocate. And I know sometimes it can feel like you’re up against all these barriers. But please keep advocating for your kids. Find a pediasure. I hope everybody finds a pediatrician that they can really work with, that will spend the time with them and really help them figure some of these things out.

 

00;54;19;08 – 00;54;38;18

Dr. Tanya Altmann

And as I’m sure said, you know, time goes by so quickly, so don’t forget to stop and, you know, smell the flowers and enjoy the time with your child, because every child is unique and exciting and interesting and happy and curious, and it’s so amazing to watch them all grow and develop.

 

00;54;38;20 – 00;54;39;20

Dr. Anshu Batra

Guys.

 

00;54;39;23 – 00;55;01;26

Dr. Mona

This was awesome. I again, I’m just so grateful for your time. I know you’re all we’re all busy here. We all are doing this work that we’re talking about on this podcast episode today and, you know, attending the conferences, taking care of the patients, managing our, our communities. And it means so much that we could come together and share this innovation around what we wish the autism world can look like.

 

00;55;01;28 – 00;55;11;09

Dr. Mona

Where can everyone go to stay connected? I know Tanya, you have a social media handle if you want to, just share that. And if you want, you know, again, if you where you’re practicing things like that for both of you.

 

00;55;11;11 – 00;55;29;04

Dr. Tanya Altmann

Definitely. So I think I’m on all forms of social media, or at least as many as I can wrap my head around. Right. And it’s my name. It’s at Doctor Tanya Altman, Dr. Tanya Alt AMA and and my website is Doctor tanya.com, and my practice is Calabasas Pediatrics.

 

00;55;29;05 – 00;55;54;05

Dr. Mona

Well, thank you both so much. I really appreciate your time. Oh, I told you that was going to be an incredible conversation. I love this show because not only do I get to talk about parenting, child health, and development, I get to talk about current events. And I myself get to learn. As a pediatrician, I personally have not prescribe glucagon or talk to families about it, but I’ve always been interested in it.

 

00;55;54;12 – 00;56;12;21

Dr. Mona

It’s just that in my area where I practice, the neurologists or the developmental pediatricians are usually the one prescribing it. So I myself wanted to learn more about Luke Avorn and how I could become a provider that prescribes it. I hope this episode gave you clarity, and maybe even some comfort in a space that’s often filled with confusion.

 

00;56;12;23 – 00;56;34;05

Dr. Mona

What started as frustration for me, and also as Doctor Batra said, and Doctor Altman, watching that press conference and seeing misinformation spread turned into exactly the kind of conversation I wish more people could hear. One led by clinicians who live this work every day. Grounded in both evidence and empathy, Doctor Altman and Doctor Batra reminded us that autism isn’t one size fits all.

 

00;56;34;12 – 00;56;58;21

Dr. Mona

There’s no single cause, no single cure, and no single story. But there is progress happening in genetics and treatment and how we support neurodiverse kids and their families. And we can hold curiosity and compassion at the same time. If you learn something today, please download the episode, leave a quick review and tag at the PedsDocTalk podcast, at PedsDocTalk, and at Doctor Tanya Altman to share what resonated most with you.

 

00;56;58;23 – 00;57;15;23

Dr. Mona

It helps these nuanced, fact based conversations reach more parents and clinicians who need them. I’m Doctor Mona, thank you so much for listening, for learning, for being a part of a community that values science, heart, and curiosity. I’ll catch you all next time for another incredible conversation.