How Can We Help You?

A story from our ONHS Medical Director, Dr. Melissa McIntosh:

April is designated as Autism Awareness Month, and April 2nd is Autism Awareness Day (next year, make sure to wear your blue). As April closes and we stare summer in the face, I was asked, as a pediatrician, to reflect on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). My thoughts immediately came to the clinical aspects of diagnosis, research, and ASD facts as we know them today. Clinical facts such as immunizations do not cause autism. The way we diagnose and categorize autism, the number of autism cases currently in the United States, the suspected possible causes, the research for cause and cure, but in the end, I chose a different route. I much prefer to talk about people, not just numbers.I would like to introduce you to my granddaughter, Baizlyn. As a grandma and a pediatrician, I became concerned about her development at around 9 months of age. It’s not always fun knowing things before others do. As the usual childhood developmental milestones were not met, a developmental pediatrician made the diagnosis of Level 3 autism spectrum disorder. There are three levels of ASD diagnosis, each corresponding to the need for daily support. Her parents were devastated but were absolute warriors as they began the never-ending cycle of speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and doctors' appointments. They become hardcore advocates for their daughter, looking at questions of the best schools, best therapists, and best environment. Tough answers to find in our part of the world.We changed as a family, and I would like to think we became better because of this amazing kid. Baizlyn is four years old now. She still doesn't talk, but that doesn’t mean she can’t communicate. We have witnessed her becoming both averse to touch and one who gives hugs. She smiles, laughs, and knows how to tease. She knows how to manipulate her grandpa into giving tickles, Reese’s Peanut Butter cups, and airplane rides in the living room. She can put a puzzle together the same way, every piece, every time. She can color-code anything, including her Easter eggs. In truth, I am awed by her and secretly suspect she is a genius who will one day run NASA.Over the years, I have had multiple patients who are neurodiverse. People who do not see or interpret the world as “normal” people do. But I have given up thinking that any of us are normal. I have been privileged to give a surprise piggyback ride to a 9-year-old boy who jumped off the examination table onto my back in the examination room while I was talking to his mother. I have been educated about honeybees, trains, and the weather by my neurodiverse neighbor, to whom we often seek help. I have been brought to tears by a father who shared the video of his neurodiverse daughter saying her first meaningful words. My education on Spider-Man, Superman, and the Hulk has been completed by one of my current patients with ASD. I have shared videos, stories, and developmental triumphs with proud parents and grandparents.So, at the end of Autism Awareness Month, I would ask: who needs the cure? As much as I celebrate any scientific breakthrough that could help those with ASD lead a safe and fulfilled life, I must ask if we “normals” are missing the bigger picture. These beautiful children and adults offer a different, simpler view of this world. A world with honest, naked truth unfettered by guile or deceit. They experience wonder and joy in everyday life and notice details in things we do not even acknowledge. I am not sure that is something that needs a “cure.” Maybe it is we who do not understand neurodiversity that needs to be cured of close-mindedness, rigid ideas of normality, and lack of attention to the wonders that surround us every day.To end Autism Awareness Month 2026, I want to give a big shout-out to all of you with neurodiversity like my granddaughter. THANK YOU!! Thank you for making my world brighter and less complicated. Thank you for showing me that there are infinite ways to see and experience this world. To those families, like mine, that fight to get their loved ones the best care in a world that pushes back at every step, I say keep up the good fight. Keep up the hard work that improves your kid’s life and shouts to the world, “There is no normal.” I’ll be right there shouting and fighting beside you.Dr. Mc ... See MoreSee Less