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This is Doctor Lisa Weisner,
I'm a pediatrician and
have been in private practice in Orange,
Connecticut for 35 years.
I have had an interest for
many years in children with autism.
I am an assistant clinical professor of
pediatrics in the Department of Pediatrics
at the Yale Medical School and
the Yale New Haven Children's Hospital
in New Haven, Connecticut.
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I'm going to start with an overview
of my talk on medical care for
children on the autism spectrum.
I will discuss the important
role of the pediatrician or
other primary care providers in
screening for autism spectrum disorders.
How to go from finding a positive
screening test to helping parents
understand what the concerns are, and
how to get a more definitive diagnosis.
I will discuss the scope of medical care
issues the parents will deal with and
some of the more common medical problems
in children, and how having an autism
spectrum disorder may make these
problems more difficult to cope with.
I will spend quite a bit
of time on seizures,
since this is the most common
medical problem in autism.
I will discuss how an ASD could make
it more difficult than usual to
keep children safe at home,
in school and in the community.
In addition, I will discuss the use
of the emergency department and
hospitalization of a child with an ASD,
as well as the added stressors involved
for anyone with autism and their family.
I will make suggestions to help deal
with these difficult situations.
I will also touch on some legal issues
that can be important in planning for
families with children
on the autism spectrum.
I will end with a summary and
a reference list that includes sources
from which I obtained my information, and
a reading list for
further exploration of specific topics.
