February 19, 2024 • 11 mins
Unlock the transformative power of early childhood evaluations with our heartfelt exploration into pediatric care. As we unveil the significance of the first five years, you'll grasp the profound impact that early recognition and intervention can have on children with developmental concerns. From identifying signs of autism to addressing ADHD nuances, our enlightening discussion delves into the necessity of an integrative approach to your child's health. Discover the subtle cues, such as minimal eye contact or a preference for solitary play, and why a comprehensive look at diet, sleep, and family history is crucial in nurturing your little one's well-being.
Join us for an intimate conversation that offers solace and strategies for parents navigating the complexities of ADHD and autism. Immerse yourself in the wisdom and personal stories highlighted in my book, "Children's Love Letters: A Pediatrician’s Guide to How Your Child Spells Love," a beacon for understanding your child's unique expressions of affection. We also extend a warm invitation to become part of our community, where families are empowered to flourish in health and happiness. Let this episode be your guide and companion on the journey towards a more connected and thriving family life.
Connect with me!
If you want to schedule an ADHD/Autism appointment for your child, you may contact Glow Pediatrics:
- Phone: 405-871-5807
- Fax: 949-695-2681
- info@glowpediatrics.com
🌐 Website: www.glowpediatrics.com
📱 Instagram: @drhokeheeko / @glowpediatrics
📧 dreko@glowpediatrics.com
👍 Facebook: Dr.HokeheEko / glowpediatrics
💼 LinkedIn: hokeheeffiongmd
And join our Glow Health Circle! Weekly coaching calls for a close-knit community of like-minded parents, to get practical strategies for your child's whole-child well-being — from brain and gut health to navigating the environment. Let's thrive together!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Hokehe Eko (00:00):
Hello everyone.
It's Dr Eko, your Happy BrainPediatrician.
So today we're gonna talk aboutwhy is it so critical to have
your child get an evaluationearly, and when I say early, I
mean in the first five years oflife.
So, moms and dads, I know it'sthe hardest thing in the world
to have to go to see a doctorand or, even before you go see a
(00:24):
doctor, to suspect that theremight be something going on with
your child that you didn'tanticipate, you didn't imagine.
You may see behaviors that areconcerning.
For example, you talk to yourchild, they may not respond like
they should, like a child ofthat typical age.
Should you find that they don'treally make eye contact with
(00:46):
you when you're talking to them,they may be delayed in their
speech, and when I say delayedin speech, I mean if your child
by the age of two isn't puttinglike one or two words together.
That's something that youshould bring up to your
pediatrician when you go for awell visit.
Things like they may not wantto play with other kids and they
(01:09):
often like to play bythemselves.
As parents, we know, we knowinnately, we know our children
better than anybody else, and soit's so important not to deny
that inner voice, the innerknowing that we have, that there
might be something we know withyour child.
And why do I say it's soimportant for you to get a
diagnosis or at least to discussyour concerns with your child's
(01:33):
pediatrician or your child'shealthcare giver is because,
while we are thankful that thebrain is able to heal itself and
you're not stuck with the brainyou have the very first five
years of life is critical thatif this change is going to be
made in terms of if your childhas a speech delay, like
(01:54):
starting to work on their speech, if they have difficulty with
motor skills, opening cans ortiny shoelaces, things like that
that the work is started at anearly age, before the age of
five.
Now, that's not to say, if yourchild hasn't gotten evaluated
after the age of five, then allhope is lost.
(02:14):
Not at all.
But for those parents who haveany suspicion of anything being
wrong is always best to ask.
I always tell my parents that Icare for there is no such thing
as a stupid question.
It's always better to ask andbring up your concerns that you
may have than to squish them andto hope that it's not because,
(02:37):
in terms of autism, specificallyright now that we are
discussing, if you do get yourchild evaluated children can be
evaluated from the age of 18months, all the way and on and
so if, by 18 months, you haveconcerns and you bring it up to
your pediatrician and you'reable to get an evaluation done,
(02:58):
then support services can be putin place for you and your child
can thrive so that things canget better.
So if we start working on yourchild's speech, for example, at
18 months, at two years of age,then they're more likely to make
more progress than if we startworking on their speech at age 6
(03:18):
, 7, 8, you understand.
So that's why it's important toask the questions early.
And the other thing I like totalk about is ADHD.
Right, in the United States, weoften do the evaluation for
ADHD at the age of 6.
So if your child is 4 years oldand you're concerned about
their behavior, about theirhyperactivity, about running up
(03:39):
and down and they can't seem tosettle or focus on one thing at
a time and we know that you haveto wait till age 6 to get an
actual diagnosis then in thatcase it would be important for
you to seek out a pediatricianwho is an integrative doctor,
which means they're going tolook at your child from the
inside out, right?
(03:59):
They're going to look at all ofthe things that are affecting
your child's behavior, not justthe behavior.
So, for example, what do I mean?
So I had a 4-year-old littleone come to see me a few weeks
ago and mom was concerned aboutADHD.
However, I told mom she's only4, so we're not going to do an
(04:21):
formal ADHD evaluation, right?
But because I'm an integrativepediatrician and with every
child I'm evaluated for autism,for ADHD, I do a full evaluation
.
And what do I mean by fullevaluation?
I'm asking questions aboutpregnancy when mom was pregnant
with the child and when, andbirth process and what happened
(04:43):
when the baby was first born andwas there any trauma that
happened to mom when she waspregnant, all the way up to
what's the child eating?
What are the child's eatinghabits?
How does the child sleep?
Talking about if the child isconstipated or not.
Talking about the child's bowel, how the atomy functions,
questions about family historyof any illnesses.
(05:06):
And so it's not.
I don't focus just on thebehaviors to make a diagnosis
for autism.
I'm looking at the entire child, because it's so critical to do
that and not just focus on okay, these are the behaviors I'm
looking at.
That should give me thisdiagnosis, because there's sleep
will affect the way your childbehaves right, if your child is
(05:26):
not getting enough sleep, ifyour child has difficulty
falling asleep or staying awakeall night, they will not behave
well, I mean without even anyother issues going on.
Think about yourself as anadult when you don't sleep well,
you don't function well.
And it's the same thing withchildren when they don't sleep
(05:47):
well, they don't act well.
And I'm not saying that sleepcauses autism, but I'm saying
that it definitely plays a partin the way your child behaves.
So it's so critical to addressall these other underlying
concerns, which is the way Ipractice as an integrated
pediatrician and that's what Ido in an evaluation.
(06:09):
So that way I'm done with theevaluation.
I may have a diagnosis of autism, but then I've also uncovered
critical areas that we canaddress.
So while we may have adiagnosis of autism, we also
have things that we can work on,like improving sleep, improving
nutrition, improving if there'sanemia going on.
(06:32):
Whatever we find that we canimprove those things and for
sure it does help your childlive and be the best version of
themselves.
So we are addressing thatoverall health.
So that's what Go Pediatricsdoes.
We address the overall health,and so that's the story about
the four year old, right?
So mom comes in, I see thechild, I ask all my questions
(06:54):
I'm observing the child as welland I make recommendations to
mom and we start working on hersleep.
It turns out the child doesn'tsleep well at all, like it's
hard for her to go to sleep.
So of course, if she doesn'tsleep well and goes to sleep at
five AM in the morning and wakesup at eight AM and then goes to
school, she's not gonna be thebest behaving child in the class
(07:18):
, that's for sure.
So we worked on that.
We also worked on what she waseating.
She was chronically constipatedas well, and all of those
things research and show and allthose things, all of those
areas all impact the way thebrain functions.
And that's my angle.
And that's why that's the angleBecause if we don't care for
the physical health of the organ, the brain, nothing really else
(07:42):
works well, because all ofthese things lack of sleep, not
eating the right food all ofthem impact the way the physical
brain works.
So if we address all of thosethings, then our brain will
function better.
And so that's the way Iapproach evaluations for
children.
That's the way I approach carefor children is let's look out
(08:04):
the factors we can to help thischild's brain work better.
And so I'm happy to say that,after we decided to tackle sleep
first because it's a process,right, we don't want to
overwhelm parents, and so wetackled sleep and made some
changes in what goes on in hersleep routine at night.
(08:25):
We also added in some thingslike magnesium to help her with
her sleep, and a few weeks latershe's sleeping better, her
activity is contained or it'simproved, rather, she's doing
much better, and so now we cancontinue that and then address
(08:45):
the next thing that she has onthe list, which in her case is
constipation.
And so I just wanted to justcome on here.
I really encourage parents.
There is hope.
The diagnosis of autism doesn'tmean that's the end for your
child.
It doesn't at all mean thatyour child will never improve or
your child will never be thebest version of ourselves.
(09:07):
Our job as parents is and myjob as a pediatrician is to walk
beside you In this journey,partner with you so that you and
your child, your entire familycan do well, can thrive, and if
the earlier we start, the betterthe outcomes.
I have seen this over and overand over, and so I often talk to
(09:29):
parents who say I just didn'twant to face that there was an
issue.
And I'm here to tell you I hearyou.
It's hard to hear that aboutyour child, who you had
different thoughts about them, Imean before they were born.
And just to encourage you, myjob is to help, is to partner
(09:51):
with you to find your child'sstrengths and so we can boost
those strengths and so yourchild can be the best version of
yourself.
I don't dwell on the diagnosis.
I dwell on how can we help thischild live to be the best
version of themselves, and so Iwant that for your children, and
I'm here.
If you have any furtherquestions I can answer.
I hope this was helpful.
(10:12):
Please let me know if you'rewatching the replay hashtag
replay and if questions I'llcome back and respond to.
Then please, if you're watchingthis on YouTube, please
subscribe to our channel andlike it and share it with
families.
More importantly, please sharewith families who need to hear
this and know that there is hope.
And again, as I always say,remember you're the best parent
(10:35):
for your child and it'sValentine's month, right?
So again, here's my bookChildren's Love Letters A
Pediatrician's Guide to how yourChild Spells Love written for
Parents.
I'm a Mommy Myself, and you canfind this on Amazon, so I hope
you have an amazing day.
I look forward to serving you.
I have a good program forparents of children with ADHD
(10:57):
and autism and we are acceptingnew parents in there and look
forward to serving you andhelping you and your family
thrive and glow with health fromthe inside out.
Have an amazing day.
Hello everyone.
It's Dr Eko, your Happy BrainPediatrician.
So today we're gonna talk aboutwhy is it so critical to have
your child get an evaluationearly, and when I say early, I
mean in the first five years oflife.
So, moms and dads, I know it'sthe hardest thing in the world
to have to go to see a doctorand or, even before you go see a
(00:24):
doctor, to suspect that theremight be something going on with
your child that you didn'tanticipate, you didn't imagine.
You may see behaviors that areconcerning.
For example, you talk to yourchild, they may not respond like
they should, like a child ofthat typical age.
Should you find that they don'treally make eye contact with
(00:46):
you when you're talking to them,they may be delayed in their
speech, and when I say delayedin speech, I mean if your child
by the age of two isn't puttinglike one or two words together.
That's something that youshould bring up to your
pediatrician when you go for awell visit.
Things like they may not wantto play with other kids and they
(01:09):
often like to play bythemselves.
As parents, we know, we knowinnately, we know our children
better than anybody else, and soit's so important not to deny
that inner voice, the innerknowing that we have, that there
might be something we know withyour child.
And why do I say it's soimportant for you to get a
diagnosis or at least to discussyour concerns with your child's
(01:33):
pediatrician or your child'shealthcare giver is because,
while we are thankful that thebrain is able to heal itself and
you're not stuck with the brainyou have the very first five
years of life is critical thatif this change is going to be
made in terms of if your childhas a speech delay, like
(01:54):
starting to work on their speech, if they have difficulty with
motor skills, opening cans ortiny shoelaces, things like that
that the work is started at anearly age, before the age of
five.
Now, that's not to say, if yourchild hasn't gotten evaluated
after the age of five, then allhope is lost.
(02:14):
Not at all.
But for those parents who haveany suspicion of anything being
wrong is always best to ask.
I always tell my parents that Icare for there is no such thing
as a stupid question.
It's always better to ask andbring up your concerns that you
may have than to squish them andto hope that it's not because,
(02:37):
in terms of autism, specificallyright now that we are
discussing, if you do get yourchild evaluated children can be
evaluated from the age of 18months, all the way and on and
so if, by 18 months, you haveconcerns and you bring it up to
your pediatrician and you'reable to get an evaluation done,
(02:58):
then support services can be putin place for you and your child
can thrive so that things canget better.
So if we start working on yourchild's speech, for example, at
18 months, at two years of age,then they're more likely to make
more progress than if we startworking on their speech at age 6
(03:18):
, 7, 8, you understand.
So that's why it's important toask the questions early.
And the other thing I like totalk about is ADHD.
Right, in the United States, weoften do the evaluation for
ADHD at the age of 6.
So if your child is 4 years oldand you're concerned about
their behavior, about theirhyperactivity, about running up
(03:39):
and down and they can't seem tosettle or focus on one thing at
a time and we know that you haveto wait till age 6 to get an
actual diagnosis then in thatcase it would be important for
you to seek out a pediatricianwho is an integrative doctor,
which means they're going tolook at your child from the
inside out, right?
(03:59):
They're going to look at all ofthe things that are affecting
your child's behavior, not justthe behavior.
So, for example, what do I mean?
So I had a 4-year-old littleone come to see me a few weeks
ago and mom was concerned aboutADHD.
However, I told mom she's only4, so we're not going to do an
(04:21):
formal ADHD evaluation, right?
But because I'm an integrativepediatrician and with every
child I'm evaluated for autism,for ADHD, I do a full evaluation
.
And what do I mean by fullevaluation?
I'm asking questions aboutpregnancy when mom was pregnant
with the child and when, andbirth process and what happened
(04:43):
when the baby was first born andwas there any trauma that
happened to mom when she waspregnant, all the way up to
what's the child eating?
What are the child's eatinghabits?
How does the child sleep?
Talking about if the child isconstipated or not.
Talking about the child's bowel, how the atomy functions,
questions about family historyof any illnesses.
(05:06):
And so it's not.
I don't focus just on thebehaviors to make a diagnosis
for autism.
I'm looking at the entire child, because it's so critical to do
that and not just focus on okay, these are the behaviors I'm
looking at.
That should give me thisdiagnosis, because there's sleep
will affect the way your childbehaves right, if your child is
(05:26):
not getting enough sleep, ifyour child has difficulty
falling asleep or staying awakeall night, they will not behave
well, I mean without even anyother issues going on.
Think about yourself as anadult when you don't sleep well,
you don't function well.
And it's the same thing withchildren when they don't sleep
(05:47):
well, they don't act well.
And I'm not saying that sleepcauses autism, but I'm saying
that it definitely plays a partin the way your child behaves.
So it's so critical to addressall these other underlying
concerns, which is the way Ipractice as an integrated
pediatrician and that's what Ido in an evaluation.
(06:09):
So that way I'm done with theevaluation.
I may have a diagnosis of autism, but then I've also uncovered
critical areas that we canaddress.
So while we may have adiagnosis of autism, we also
have things that we can work on,like improving sleep, improving
nutrition, improving if there'sanemia going on.
(06:32):
Whatever we find that we canimprove those things and for
sure it does help your childlive and be the best version of
themselves.
So we are addressing thatoverall health.
So that's what Go Pediatricsdoes.
We address the overall health,and so that's the story about
the four year old, right?
So mom comes in, I see thechild, I ask all my questions
(06:54):
I'm observing the child as welland I make recommendations to
mom and we start working on hersleep.
It turns out the child doesn'tsleep well at all, like it's
hard for her to go to sleep.
So of course, if she doesn'tsleep well and goes to sleep at
five AM in the morning and wakesup at eight AM and then goes to
school, she's not gonna be thebest behaving child in the class
(07:18):
, that's for sure.
So we worked on that.
We also worked on what she waseating.
She was chronically constipatedas well, and all of those
things research and show and allthose things, all of those
areas all impact the way thebrain functions.
And that's my angle.
And that's why that's the angleBecause if we don't care for
the physical health of the organ, the brain, nothing really else
(07:42):
works well, because all ofthese things lack of sleep, not
eating the right food all ofthem impact the way the physical
brain works.
So if we address all of thosethings, then our brain will
function better.
And so that's the way Iapproach evaluations for
children.
That's the way I approach carefor children is let's look out
(08:04):
the factors we can to help thischild's brain work better.
And so I'm happy to say that,after we decided to tackle sleep
first because it's a process,right, we don't want to
overwhelm parents, and so wetackled sleep and made some
changes in what goes on in hersleep routine at night.
(08:25):
We also added in some thingslike magnesium to help her with
her sleep, and a few weeks latershe's sleeping better, her
activity is contained or it'simproved, rather, she's doing
much better, and so now we cancontinue that and then address
(08:45):
the next thing that she has onthe list, which in her case is
constipation.
And so I just wanted to justcome on here.
I really encourage parents.
There is hope.
The diagnosis of autism doesn'tmean that's the end for your
child.
It doesn't at all mean thatyour child will never improve or
your child will never be thebest version of ourselves.
(09:07):
Our job as parents is and myjob as a pediatrician is to walk
beside you In this journey,partner with you so that you and
your child, your entire familycan do well, can thrive, and if
the earlier we start, the betterthe outcomes.
I have seen this over and overand over, and so I often talk to
(09:29):
parents who say I just didn'twant to face that there was an
issue.
And I'm here to tell you I hearyou.
It's hard to hear that aboutyour child, who you had
different thoughts about them, Imean before they were born.
And just to encourage you, myjob is to help, is to partner
(09:51):
with you to find your child'sstrengths and so we can boost
those strengths and so yourchild can be the best version of
yourself.
I don't dwell on the diagnosis.
I dwell on how can we help thischild live to be the best
version of themselves, and so Iwant that for your children, and
I'm here.
If you have any furtherquestions I can answer.
I hope this was helpful.
(10:12):
Please let me know if you'rewatching the replay hashtag
replay and if questions I'llcome back and respond to.
Then please, if you're watchingthis on YouTube, please
subscribe to our channel andlike it and share it with
families.
More importantly, please sharewith families who need to hear
this and know that there is hope.
And again, as I always say,remember you're the best parent
(10:35):
for your child and it'sValentine's month, right?
So again, here's my bookChildren's Love Letters A
Pediatrician's Guide to how yourChild Spells Love written for
Parents.
I'm a Mommy Myself, and you canfind this on Amazon, so I hope
you have an amazing day.
I look forward to serving you.
I have a good program forparents of children with ADHD
(10:57):
and autism and we are acceptingnew parents in there and look
forward to serving you andhelping you and your family
thrive and glow with health fromthe inside out.
Have an amazing day.
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