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Transcript

What If It’s Not “Just Autism”? Looking at the Whole Child with Greer McGuinness · Inchstones with Sarah | Autism Advocacy & Caregiver Stories

• 0:00
  Speaker A: Hey everyone. Welcome back to the Inchstones podcast. You know, one of the questions I get and keep coming back to so often in raising children with significant profound autism is how do we as parents make sure that we're not attributing everything happening inside their bodies to autism? And when a child is non speaking, they can't reliably tell me their stomach hurts or I'm absolutely exhausted, mom, or something feels different. And parents are so often left to interpret these changes from the entire spectrum without really knowing what might be happening underneath. And I am so excited to welcome my guest today, Groomer Guinness, who understands that the search for that understanding comes from both sides. She is the founder of Biomedical Healing for Kids. I followed her for years on social media and it's been an incredible point of, of, of education for me. She's also a registered dietitian and functional medicine practitioner. But she first as, like most of us, entered this world as a mom after her own son's diagnosis. So we're going to talk about a little more about the biomedical approach, what it actually means and how we can use functional medicine that they work together rather than forcing families to choose, to choose a camp. So, Greer, welcome, very, very big welcome to Inchtons.
• 1:22
  Speaker B: Thank you.
• 1:23
  Speaker A: Would you be able to take us from the very beginning, you know, before we talk about your work, take me back to your son's diagnosis.
• 1:31
  Speaker B: Yeah, my son, he was my first. Everything was going well until it wasn't. And you know, he met every milestone there. There weren't concerns, there weren't red flags. Both of my parents were school teachers for over 30 years. No one had a, you know, I was a practitioner. I, I learned a lot about pediatrics. I learned what to look out for and how to, you know, certain things. And, you know, it wasn't like I missed a red flag or something. It wasn't like I just completely ignored or, you know, pushed down some questionable things. Everything was completely normal until he regressed around 18, 19 months. And it wasn't until then, you know, I started realizing what practitioners were, were changing the rules of things that I had learned. So, so, you know, I had learned autism was a developmental delay since birth. These were the, the things that we look for, these are the things that we assess for, especially with feeding problems, nutrition issues and you know, I didn't have any of those concerns with my son really. And you know, I was like, he was eating, he's happy. You know, he didn't gain like a ton of weight. He wasn't a chubby Baby and I, and neither was my husband. So there weren't really any concerns until there's like he regressed. And I remember I went to the pediatrician, I said, I don't know what happened. He's like, everything that we just knocked off all the boxes at his 18 month well visit, everything that he could do. Now all of a sudden he can't do. And she referred us to early intervention again and you know, said, I think you really need to assess him and see because this sounds like autism. And they were like. And I said, but he was fine, you know, I didn't understand the concept, you know, and I just kept getting told, well this is just how autism presents itself now. And I was like, well, how come I didn't learn this? You know, like this would be a big thing to learn.
• 3:27
  Speaker A: And so it really is like the most common thread of like, why do we feel whiplash and gaslit at the same time? And why isn't there a word for that?
• 3:36
  Speaker B: Yeah, a hundred per. Because I think I was so dumbfounded and I was like, okay, maybe because I don't specialize in pediatrics matrix. Maybe this is new research. Maybe this is new. And I just wasn't up on speed
• 3:51
  Speaker A: of everything, which is that humility that I think a lot of moms and especially high highly intelligent ones tend to, to do first. Like, well, maybe I just didn't know. Yeah, maybe I'm the one.
• 4:02
  Speaker B: I started, I really started going back like through videos and pictures going, did I miss something? Yes, like, right, right. You know, and I remember talking to my mom and my, my dad and my mom was an elementary school teacher and she actually had had tons of special needs in her classes and, and you know, she's looking at me like I, I got nothing.
• 4:23
  Speaker A: You know, I mean, clear. That gives me chills because I, I, I too grew up in a, with parents that were educators. And so there's that same, it's, it's a confirmation bias too where you're like, wait a second. The smartest people I know that raised me are also not seeing this. And I'm of them and I consider myself pretty. So yeah, I mean that's just I, I, that lands very deeply with me.
• 4:45
  Speaker B: Yeah. So I, it was kind of one of those things. And then when I went to the, I went to two different developmental pediatricians because I was like, this can't be my reality. Like I just was so, you know, in denial, I guess at that point. Cause I was like, there's just no way. And both of them said the same thing. Level 2 autism. This is just how autism presents itself. He is. Your son was always autistic. You just missed the signs. And I remember leaving the first appointment, hysterically crying, just being a hot mess. And I. That's when I was like this. I went to a different, you know, appointment and a different assessment, and they said the same thing. And I was like, all right, well, I guess they're the experts.
• 5:24
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 5:25
  Speaker B: Why would I question the quote, unquote, experts in this field when I'm not an expert in this field yet? So for years, I did ex. Yeah, for years I did exactly what they told me to do. He'll be fine. You know, I think he'll be okay. You know, just do speech therapy, do occupational therapy, do ABA therapy, put him in school. And I did everything. I put this kid on a bus at two and a half years old.
• 5:48
  Speaker A: Yep.
• 5:49
  Speaker B: Cringing, you know, but they. This is what you need to do for your son. This is the only way it's going to help him. So I stuffed down all those feelings to just be like, all right, I'm going to do what I think is best and what everyone's telling me is best for my child because I felt like a deer in headlights. And after a good two years of doing all this, we were snail's pace, like, making progress. And I was like, you know, this kid is almost four and a half. We're barely having any language skills, conversations. He's look, looks. Looks like he's looking straight through me. Doesn't even, like, pay attention. No danger. Like, would run into traffic in a heartbeat. And I had a nurse friend. She was my crunch. I called her my token crunchy mom friend because she was, like, my first introduction to the Crunchy Moms. Like, she was my elderberry girl. She used to make elderberry syrup.
• 6:38
  Speaker A: She was your Mary Ruth. She was into Mary R. And we would all.
• 6:42
  Speaker B: I mean, we all called her the Crunchy Crunchy Nurse mom, you know, and she loved it. And, you know, what's great is, is, you know, she wasn't forceful with information with me. She. She was so good at leaving breadcrumbs just to pique my interest. And she knew me well enough to. To know how to pique my interest. And one day I was complaining and I was upset, you know, because we had, like, his, like, IEP and like, he was not meeting his goals. And it's just. I just kept falling. Feeling like we were falling farther and further behind. And, you know, I was pregnant with my second and just in panic mode. And she said, she goes, hey, have you, have you seen these biomedical Facebook groups? These, like, new groups are pretty cool. I'm like, what are you talking about? And she's like, well, they're, they're autism moms too, and they're finding like, supplements to help. And these lab, these different labs that your, your pediatrician won't run, but you could run them because you're licensed. And, and it was just like, you know, it just piqued my interest. And so I infiltrated some of the Facebook groups and I'm forever grateful for these. Mom.
• 7:44
  Speaker A: And around what year is this? I'm just trying to think about.
• 7:46
  Speaker B: He was about four, almost four and a half between that time. And that's when I started. You know, I was going back to school for my master's because I really wanted to understand autism a lot better and, and the research behind autism. And that's when I started really diving into a lot of the research. And what I found is I actually talked about this on another podcast is my, my graduate professors were so into functional medicine, it was insane. Actually, one of my professors actually works for an herbal supplement company.
• 8:18
  Speaker A: And you didn't know that going in,
• 8:20
  Speaker B: and I had no idea. And she actually works for the Sump, a really big, well known herbal supplement company, helping to formulate their, their supplements. And she would explain all this, like, really cool stuff to us. And I was like, I gotta talk to these professors. And I started like, dabbling and talking to them about functional medicine, autism stuff. And they were like, green light up. Go like, yes, do it. Go like, let's pick topics for your papers and stuff like that. And it just catapulted me and I started ordering testing. I found a local functional doctor who didn't really specialize in kids, but actually really understood, you know, alternative labs and things like that. And I said, listen, I know you don't work with kids, but I need your help. And he was like, no problem. And he helped just get me acclimated to everything and understand, like, where I need to go, what, where I could get some research.
• 9:12
  Speaker A: And that's incredible. And like the system was, was being, you know, shared with you.
• 9:16
  Speaker B: Yeah. And I'm forever grateful for his help. And I remember I bought some supplements. I came home, I told my husband, I said, all right, listen, you know, I'm gonna try a couple things. And he looked at me like, okay. And it was about four or five weeks in, was coming out of the shower, and I looked, and now this kid has never held a pencil. He has never written anything, like never drew anything. And I, and he had my dry erase board and he was writing his ABCs for the first time sitting on the chair. And I like quickly ran and got my phone and I was like videotaping it and my husband looked at me and goes, what did you do? I said, I have no idea.
• 9:54
  Speaker A: I don't, I don't know. But just keep going.
• 9:56
  Speaker B: I don't know, I don't know what I did. But I like unlocked Pandora's box for me. And from that moment on I was hooked. I, I was reading 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 research papers a day. I was diving into everything I could. Supplements, research, you know, I was just following cascades and just figuring it out as I went along and here I
• 10:18
  Speaker A: am and there you are. You know, I'm so many mothers are going to hang onto that story because they're going to feel not only the hope but also sort of the data that you have, you were collecting whether that was conscious or unconscious about what your son is, was possible of, you know. And the one I did an experiment
• 10:37
  Speaker B: like I monitored, I had exactly. I had the in home therapist do an ABA assessment prior. It's a VB MAP score I had them do prior to doing any supplements. He was never really on any supplements other than a multivitamin. And then within that six month period, I had them repeat the test right before he was 5 and his VB map score dropped from like a 56 to an 8.
• 10:59
  Speaker A: Wow.
• 10:59
  Speaker B: In six months. And the ABA therapist was like, what did you do?
• 11:02
  Speaker A: Right, Obviously. So, you know, I, I, I love that because I was, I just had a conversation recently about someone that said, you know, what's the, what's the gonna, what do you feel is the benefit of AI in this crazy world? And I said honestly, for data documentation for families like mine who are taking in and have teams of people and tests being run, evaluations all the time, maybe AI can help streamline this and take some energetic load off the data collection and the processing. Because what you' different from what I just had a conversation with someone yesterday and two days ago before is I have whiteboards of data for me, I have note apps, right. I've got but every one of us has those things and which is a way for us to churn through that, to allow something to rise and go, oh, that was one thing that really worked or oh, that's it, you know. So for the parent that listens to this and is curious about, you know, you took us through a lot of different things. The testing, your own, your own educational, you know, path and whatever. The supplements, the diets. Where do you tell them to begin?
• 12:03
  Speaker B: So we always typically start with nutrition in the gut. That's gonna be like the first things that we focus on because that's basically the engine to the car. That's every, like you need to eat every day, your kid is eating every day. Whether they're eating the same 15 foods or 40 foods, you know, what their gut looks like, what was their development like. So all these things, especially early on in childhood, all these things impact gut microbiome development and brain development at the same time. They're simultaneous after a certain point. So we need to make sure that where we're at is foundational. It's like building a home. You're not gonna build the home before you put the slab down. So that's usually where I start with families. And I know it's the, the hard. One of the hardest things to start. Cause I feel like a lot of our kids have feeding issues. And that's one of those things that is the most difficult thing to start focusing on sometimes supplements. You know, with the testing help, I've worked with kiddos who, you know, were picky eaters. And once we start working on their gut microbiome, all of a sudden they're like ravenous. And now they're eating and trying everything. So, you know, we start with gut and nutrition first and then we kind of branch off. Because though we'll figure out what symptoms are left over after we start working on the foundations.
• 13:17
  Speaker A: Well, that's that. That kind of brings me to my next thought, which is all these co occurring. And I don't like the term comorbidity. I'm trying to move away from that. But co occurring medical issues.
• 13:26
  Speaker B: Yeah, I mean, comorbidities is, is a, is a medical term. We use that all the time. And it, and it is, you know, co occurring, you know, issues, symptoms and comorbidities that go along with autism. The issue is, is they just always say comorbidities. It's just a part of autism, which is.
• 13:42
  Speaker A: Right, exactly, exactly.
• 13:43
  Speaker B: And that's where we need to separate.
• 13:45
  Speaker A: What are some of the questions that parents can ask to help them understand that better or at least understand it for their own child.
• 13:52
  Speaker B: So this is the hard part, because when you ask pediatricians, you know, and I'm. And they'll probably say the same thing, is it's just, oh, this is of how autism presents itself or this is a part of autism.
• 14:02
  Speaker A: Autism?
• 14:02
  Speaker B: Yeah. When my son had massive gut issues and he wasn't pooping for a week at a time, I was just told, oh, this is normal for autism because of X, Y and Z. Just give him Miralax, give him fiber, hydrate him. And I was like, okay, you know, so, you know, I have kids who have sleep disturbance. Oh, this is just somehow sometimes kids have, with autism have sleep issues. Did we do any blood work? Do they have low iron? Do they have low minerals? Are they, are their gut so imbalanced? Their neurotransmitters and you know, are all imbalanced? You know, so we don't ask the in depth questions. We just keep saying, oh, this is a part of autism. Seizures, you know, like head banging, stimming, tiptoe walking. This is just a part of autism. Well, but no, it's not, because not all kids have the same issue and not all kids have the same symptoms. So obviously we're missing what's unique to this kid, to why they're doing this.
• 14:54
  Speaker A: Right. And so that's where I come to almost every day, is like, so where is the science becoming less certain? You know, what do we actually know between the gut and nutrition and autism? Because science is reminding me that it's less certain right now about this.
• 15:14
  Speaker B: We've learned more about the brain in general and the gut microbiome in the last 10 years than ever before. And we still don't know everything. We still don't know or have identified every microbial species.
• 15:27
  Speaker A: Right.
• 15:27
  Speaker B: You know, so we love to say that this is the science and this is, you know, stop asking questions. But yet we still are learning and understanding. It's like anesthesia. We know anesthesia works, but we don't really know how it works.
• 15:41
  Speaker A: Right, right.
• 15:42
  Speaker B: So it's kind of one of those things where it's like, okay, you know, we, we have to leave the door open to say, well, this isn't set in stone and, and maybe we need to look different and deeper. And that's where I wish functional medicine and mainstream medicine could come together and partner. Because the only ones that are hurting right now are the kids and the families.
• 16:05
  Speaker A: A hundred percent. I was talking to. I'm actually attending. I don't know if you'll be there next, but the MAPS conference this upcoming.
• 16:10
  Speaker B: I'm going, I'm leaving tomorrow.
• 16:11
  Speaker A: I'll see you there. I'll see you there. Yeah, because I think that. And I was talking to Honey Renicelli about this just literally yesterday, saying if we really want to say, what is this all for? It's for the children.
• 16:23
  Speaker B: There's.
• 16:23
  Speaker A: There's. There's no. I don't want any sort of behavioral or drama around parents and clinicians, functional medicine, Western med medicine, typical pediatricians. No. What is this all for? It's for the kids. And if we can come together in that aspect and create better results, why is that wrong?
• 16:40
  Speaker B: I. I have this conversation a lot. Somebody actually posted on my. It was. I. I posted something about broccoli sprouts, sulforaphane, and. And how it could help kids, you know, in many different areas. And somebody was like, why are you trying to cure kids? They. They're different, not less. And I said, well, that's really simple and easy for you who can communicate and type that conversation into my video. But, like, I have kids that can't do that. And that's not fair. That's not fair that we only. We can. You know, then what's the point of doing therapies? Aba speech, ot, pt. What's the point?
• 17:16
  Speaker A: Which then becomes. What's the point of anything.
• 17:18
  Speaker B: Yeah.
• 17:18
  Speaker A: Which I was talking to someone else about this. Like, what's the point of us even having this conversation now?
• 17:22
  Speaker B: Yeah. If we're helping them with skills and, and support, then we should be helping them with skills and support everywhere. I don't. What's the difference? I mean, and keeping a kid in silence, that could potentially speak to us, even if it's just making their needs known. I. I have a kid who we've been working together for a long time, and this dad is. Is amazing. He's done everything for this child. They've done, you know, stem cells. They've done. They've done everything. We've worked together for years. I've been helping them. And the child is at a point now where he has really amazing receptive language and can communicate his wants and needs and that. And the dad is happy with that. You know, he's gonna have to support his son for a very long time, but his kid is able. He's happy, he's healthy in his body, and he's able to communicate and. And feel and not get frustrated anymore. Not have, like, breakdowns and tantrums and whack his head against the wall. I mean, why is that a negative?
• 18:20
  Speaker A: Exactly. Exactly. That. You know, the, the idea of energetically saying or charging, especially online, like the, the keyboard warriors of, like, you know, why are you putting it out there? You know, different, not less. All these things. It is such a subset of the general population that doesn't really get to have a say in what this world is. I, I, I've said ad nauseam, please follow me and my children around for 30 days and tell me what you wouldn't. Not only just try, but also it's, I don't know about you. It's a lens into my own self. You know, I, my body built these children. Right. I'm not naive to the fact that, you know, I am of them and they are of me. And so what that reveals also becomes a point of massive learning about my own best version of myself. And I think that's where insurance is always founded. On to your example, right there, of that child and the dad. We are not, there's not one thing. And that's why I love your platform so much. You're constantly giving many, many different avenues as to the testing and the supplements and the therapies and just the being present and acknowledging what you are seeing as a, as a mother and caregiver that cannot be divorced from this conversation. The data that a mother intuitively takes in has to be part of the plan. And I think that that's what also helps acknowledge the inch tones of growth. Because it's not like you said, you're sharing the story of a gentleman and his son from years. And it might, and it is not even my, it is gonna be years, just like any of us. But I think that, that if we can find such deep satisfaction in that journey, whether it's broccoli sprouts or something else, that is very worthy of being shared.
• 20:00
  Speaker B: Yeah, I, you know, there, there's there's so much out there when it comes to, you know, testimonials and supplements. And this, well, this started, this made my son start talking, or this made my daughter, you know, communicate better. And it's like, okay, well, those are great, but like, everyone is so different. And, you know, and that happened to us. Like, you know, I remember early on the Nemechek protoc, like, one of the first things that, because that's like, that's like, what, 10, 15 years?
• 20:27
  Speaker A: I was gonna say that's 10, 15 years ago. I remember being in the carpool line at an AVA therapy and having a mom run up to me and be like, have you heard of them?
• 20:34
  Speaker B: You know, that was like, one of the big things. Yes.
• 20:37
  Speaker A: Out of Arizona, right?
• 20:38
  Speaker B: Yeah. And so, you know, and I had heard all these moms were doing it, and they were great. And then I started doing it with my son, and it was the Worst thing in the entire world. Like, it was. It backfired so big with us. And I was like, wait, why? Why did this happen? Every. All these moms are saying, this is the best thing. This is going to help. And, like, why is my kid literally having a meltdown? Well, my son had tons of yeast overgrowth. My son had significant yeast imbalance and got a dysbiosis. And the inulin was making things.
• 21:06
  Speaker A: I was gonna say the inulin. Yeah.
• 21:08
  Speaker B: And. But nobody talks about the negative a lot of the time. So that's why I try to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly on every. On every platform. But I think.
• 21:16
  Speaker A: But to your point, though, it's about. You do have to try. I had a woman, I was on a panel recently asked me specifically about a specific kind of thing to try, and I said, I can't tell you. I've actually never done that for my child. But I cannot tell you if that's the right thing. But if you feel deeply that you want to give it your all and to try that and give that an opportunity to take hold, absolutely give that a try. And don't hinge on the expectation.
• 21:40
  Speaker B: So. And so I usually tell my parents, your mom got an intuition will never steer you wrong. Never. So, like, when I. And when I started Nemechek, it was weird because I was like, I don't know about this. Like, this just seems, like, weird to me.
• 21:54
  Speaker A: Yeah, like, something in you.
• 21:56
  Speaker B: Something was off. I just didn't have the gung ho. I was 100 certain about it, and I did it, and I was like, oh, man, I needed to follow that mom gut because I knew this wasn't right. But then when I switched and I did other supplements, I'm like, I was confident in those decisions, and I was. And that's what I tell my kids. I get moms all the time that are like, oh, yeah, I found this, like, random supplement, and I put my kid on it, and it worked amazingly. And I was like, that's that mom gut. Mom intuition.
• 22:19
  Speaker A: Something drew.
• 22:20
  Speaker B: You always, always follow that, Always follow that. And sometimes we're going to be off. But if some. If something's like an inkling of just like, this is. Seems off or way too good to be true or just. You just don't feel that power, I just say, back off.
• 22:35
  Speaker A: What are some ways that for those that are just seeing, you know, a conventional, you know, pediatrician or developmental pediatrician now, that. That parents can advocate to work alongside the functional medicine physician and make that bridge Actually have the parent be that bridge.
• 22:51
  Speaker B: Yeah. So, you know, realize that your developmental pediatrician or pediatrician or whoever, neurologist, they're not the end all, be all, and they're not the. The people who are dictating what you can and cannot do with your child. So if you want to work with a functional provider, you do not need their approval at all.
• 23:08
  Speaker A: Great.
• 23:09
  Speaker B: And if you want to speak with them because you like them and respect them. I love my pediatrician. I love and respect her. I've gifted her books. She's changed the way she does her practice because of me, and I absolutely love her. And we share research with each other. And she's amazing. She's seen what I've done with my son, and she's always like, how's it go? You know, she's always like, oh, what's new? What did you do?
• 23:30
  Speaker A: Curious.
• 23:30
  Speaker B: And that's what I love. And sometimes it just takes that little bit of an open door of, like, leaving breadcrumbs where I have a free ebook. It's a biomedical workbook that parents can bring to their pediatrician and with a list of things that they could do. They're not the standard labs that your pediatrician would run at just an annual physical. They're just specific labs geared towards the biochemical differences of kids with autism that I have for families that they could bring and say, listen, I want to run X, Y and Z labs and just see if something's off. There's functional labs and things like that parents can purchase on their own. So, you know, it's okay. Sometimes I think families are looking for their doctors and pediatricians for a approval because I think when you get a diagnosis, you feel so small and so lost that you're looking for someone to go, it's okay to do this. And they're usually not going to do that. So if you're looking for approval, you're looking for that support, you might not find it, and that's okay. There's a completely different world of people and providers that will support you.
• 24:30
  Speaker A: That's right. The. In the breakdown of the expectations. It also breaks down a lot of what. What is possible. And it kind of. It does really change the trajectory of that single monolith. You know, we're just going to be in a typical, you know, and going to. Going to, you know, the pediatrician for, you know, a well, visit once a year. It does open up and show you that there are so many different roads to that, even in. Even as small as sort of the Grief and the, I guess the expectations can kind of make you feel less than on the, on the, on the, maybe the, the, the first few moments or the first few chapters.
• 25:03
  Speaker B: Yeah, I mean when I, when I was talking to my developmental pediatrician, I, I think it was like the second, the second time we went back and his, he was scoring like off the charts now, you know, after we had done biomedical and she was like, oh, he's doing great. Like what are you doing? I said, well we're still doing the therapies, but I started doing X, Y and Z. And she looked at me with like, like the side eye of like, oh, like eye roll of like that stuff doesn't work. And I was like, well, proof pudding.
• 25:33
  Speaker A: So I don't know what to tell you, you know.
• 25:35
  Speaker B: And she made some snarky comments and I was like, like you know what? I don't think I'm going to come back here because you didn't. You clearly don't respect me. That's right. As a parent. And you clearly don't care that my son has made progress and is doing better.
• 25:48
  Speaker A: That's the thing, like the acknowledgement of what, whatever it is to, to not be seen and witnessed in the reality. That's one of the hardest things I think mothers, especially us that have children on the more severe end is that, wait a second, I'm seeing the exact reality as you are and you're not going to acknowledge that what was, what has happened in between visits has happened. That, that I can only imagine how you felt.
• 26:10
  Speaker B: There I was, I was fuming.
• 26:13
  Speaker A: Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
• 26:15
  Speaker B: And you know what? And you know, having a kid on the spectrum has taught me how to find my own voice. And you know, I was, you know, I'm, I've, I've capable of snapping back at people and in. But you know, when I was younger and a first time mom, I tend. I didn't because I just, just feel like people make, made you feel like this big. When you're a first time mom, sometimes you're like, oh, you should have done this or you should have done that. Like. And so by that time I was like, you know what? I just looked at her, said I don't care what you say. And she just looked at me and I said, well, I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing because this is what's working for my kid. And I walked out. I was so annoyed because you know, I think also like no, I'm not a doctor, don't get me wrong. I But I've worked really hard in health care, seeing thousands of patients. I deserve respect too.
• 27:05
  Speaker A: That's right.
• 27:05
  Speaker B: That's right. And I felt like not only as a mom, but as a clinician, you were not respecting me at all. And especially when I brought in a binder full of research.
• 27:14
  Speaker A: Well, that's. Well, that's the thing too, you know, when, when you have that and you know, science is based on that data, and when you're. When you're someone who actually has the skills to take that in and provide it. Yeah, it can feel. I guess that's the best way to use the term gaslit, I guess.
• 27:30
  Speaker B: Well, the problem is what we call the standard practice of care. So, like, for instance, your child has an ear infection. The standard practice of care is to give antibiotics, not go to a chiropractor, use meal and garlic ear drops or, you know, collidal silver or, you know, essential oils. That's not the standard practice. It doesn't mean you can't do that because that works too. But the standard practice. So it's. It's the same thing where even if there's research on the other side, even if there's other things that is. Is in the literature, if it's not the standard practice, they don't. They block it out completely. And it's very frustrating because it's like you're treating these kids as cookie cutters, that they're all the same. And we're always telling parents that autism is so individualized, but yet we're treating them all the same. So it doesn't.
• 28:17
  Speaker A: Which. Which is it? It's like there's a lot of different things in this country going on right now, but that's the same thing. Like, which one is it? Is it this? Is it this?
• 28:24
  Speaker B: Like.
• 28:24
  Speaker A: But it can't. You can't be both. Right. And we can't have it be individualized care, if it's all under the blanket of that is just autism. And I think, you know, investigating the health of each individual autistic child, that's not the same as wanting to fix autism. Right. You know, and we can completely love and care for our children as they are, while also still asking really, really difficult questions. And like anything, sometimes the harder and more difficult or energetically demanding it can. Will also bring such clarity in a way that you might not have expected. And when your child can't reliably tell you, I do think when you become a parent, it is your duty, and that's also deeply embedded in discernment. Which is a big word for me as well. Greer, thank you so, so much for sharing today. I think that what you're offering to this community is so powerful. And I think that not only you're what I hope to do with Inchton's and you're doing so beautifully is that you're a mirror for us and you're in a mirror for so many. Not saying that this is what you should do. It's more of like, look at what you can and what is possible. Because the question is so much simpler than, you know, than the widest of nets. It's that are we looking at the whole child and are we doing everything responsibly and reasonably within our power to help them feel as healthy and as comfortable in their bodies as possible? So thank you so much.
• 29:48
  Speaker B: Of course, of course, Ed. Thank you for having me. And you know, if anyone's listening, I have a lot of free ebooks and you can follow me on Instagram, grab all my ebooks and you know, definitely reach out if you have questions, concerns. I usually try to answer everybody. I'm one of those people who sit up and like answer all my, my DMs. But yeah, if it's no different than if you're an adult and you're not feeling well in your body, you're going to go do everything you can to feel better. And it's just the same thing of what we're doing with our kids as well.
• 30:13
  Speaker A: Yeah. Well, I'll be posting all those resources which every which way in which you can reach career. I personally follow you on Instagram. I know as a geriatric millennial, that is my vein. But so we will be posting everything in the episode summary. And Greer, just thank you for allowing us to giving us the freedom to ask those questions with curiosity and care. And I will see you in Philly in the next few weeks.
• 30:33
  Speaker B: Yeah, awesome. Definitely come by. I'm going to be with Aspire Nutrition, so definitely come by.
• 30:38
  Speaker A: Oh my God, I love it. I love it. Well, thank you again, Greer. And until next time, here on the INS podcast,