In this episode, I’m taking you inside why the future of autism care is holistic, and why it’s long overdue. If you’ve ever felt like you’re piecing together your child’s care from different clinics, different specialists, and different recommendations that never quite connect, this conversation is for you. I’m joined by Savannah Jaska, Cortica’s Senior Manager of Transdisciplinary Collaboration and a board-certified music therapist. Savannah has spent her entire career working side by side with ABA clinicians, occupational therapists, speech-language pathologists, physicians, and counselors. In her words, she was never in the room by herself, and that experience shaped a role that didn’t even have a name until recently. Together, we walk through Cortica’s whole-child development framework using a simple image: a tree. The roots are your child’s daily life at home, at school, and in the community. The trunk is the health of the brain and body, including sleep, nutrition, gut health, immune function, stress, and neurological activity. I explain why autistic children are 2 to 4 times more likely to have gastrointestinal problems, and how something as common as constipation can show up as aggression or refusing to sit for circle time. Once the medical picture is addressed, the behavior plan often isn’t even needed. We also cover why 10 to 20% of autistic individuals experience seizures and how that can affect learning and development. Then we move to the branches, the six domains of brain development: sensory, motor, cognitive, language, social, and emotional. We break down why your child has eight senses, not five, why struggling to speak doesn’t mean struggling to understand, and why autistic socializing isn’t less social, just different. We also explain why pain scales and “use your words” check-ins may not work for every child, and how a meltdown is really a nervous system that has taken in more than it can process. Savannah shares a powerful insight: regulation is something children learn with us before they can do it alone. This episode is for you if your child sees multiple specialists who don’t seem to talk to each other, you’ve wondered whether a “behavior” might actually have a medical cause, your child communicates differently and you know they understand more than others assume, or you’re a professional who wants to see the whole child instead of a list of separate problems. Throughout, we emphasize that behavior is the output, not the starting point, and the best care starts with understanding everything underneath it. This is Part 1 of our conversation, so stay tuned for the next episode!
