FAQ:
Will drug-I-saw-online Help My Child?

You’re Wondering: How do I “cure” my child?

  • About Speech Therapy:
    A speech therapist practicing as licensed is highly unlikely to harm a child. Some children make obvious improvements. For children with a developmental disability, patience and using the methods specifically for this child are key.     Some children make clear improvements in few weeks to months of therapy. Their issue resolves. For many, progress may take years. Quality, methods, and results vary because children, goals and situations vary.

  • Some children have a medical problem that can be fixed. You may find it. This “cure” will not “fix” someone else with a differently built or affected body.

  • Alternative “Cures”: No treatment, medication, or supplement helps all children with a particular speech or language disorder.

  • Some parents are in a hurry.
    Like you, I once pushed for a “cure” now.
    I tried alternative treatments on my son for years, from 2000 to 2005. His health got better after his food allergies resolved (just like his father’s had.) His attention improved when his bowels improved. His disabilities did not change at all from alternative medicine.

  • What Your Child Understands:
    I tried alternative medicine with my son when he was little. I wanted to understand what he thought. Using his non-speech AAC communication), here is what my grown-up son told me:

  • My son wanted “vitamins” and treatments to be magic. He tried hard to “be good” when he knew he was getting something new (a vitamin, an oil, an amino acid, whatever!). He would push himself = “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can” - until he was exhausted. Because he was still the same underneath, he would rebound or regress. and burn out from stress. That is why, we eventually realized: A few days after we tried something new, improvement was followed by a crash.

  • He thought something about him was unacceptable and wrong. He was different, less, ill, or “needed medicine.” It hurts me to think what I was doing to his sense of self worth. The energy and money I spent experimenting on him kept me from fully accepting my child.

  • The “cures” parents try all can be dangerous. A special form of Vitamin A in Cod liver oil was a fad among parents (myself included) 25 years ago, and it is possible to overdose on Vitamin A. Children who get their hands on yummy multivitamins have overdosed on the iron in them. Even regular vitamins can accumulate into kidney stones later. Parents have put children inside an oxygen tank, and a child with a developmental disability is known to have died in one.

Leucovorin

NOTE: Laura is not licensed to practice medicine or pharmacy. Her advice is: Get medical advice!
This information may not be updated. Laura Weinberg and Laura Weinberg CCC-SLP LLC are not liable for broken links, missing information, or retractions or opinions of sources linked or cited.

Background of the author: I worked in the pharmaceutical industry in a non-medical capacity. I have a child (now adult) whose own nutrition was always excellent but who has exceedingly low levels of zinc in the blood. From his blood, it looked as if it was no zinc in his food. It was in his meat and grains, and we tried supplements. Zinc deficiency could explain many symptoms he has. Let me be clear: taking zinc never improved him.

There is not ONE AUTISM.
There are many AUTISMS.

My son was born with an issue that probably involves metabolism of zinc and affects all the cells in his body. Other people with autism may have issues in absorption, metabolism, or excretion of other key nutrients. They may have issues (deficits, or imbalances) in metabolic processes for converting nutrients into useful forms in the body.
A nutrigenetic analysis would be wonderful to give everyone with autism, if it existed. Then we could know what to prescribe them.

Someone else’s issues in metabolism are very unlikely to be the same as my son’s.

LEUCOVORIN is the Word of the Day

Chemical description of Leucovorin:
It is chemically related to the molecule referred to as Folic Acid or Vitamin B9. Leucovorin is a form that is different in that it does not require the human body to use difolate reductase as a cofactor make it available to cells.

Autism spectrum disorder, Vitamin B9 or Folate, and pregnancy: Research suggests benefits and risks. Pregnant women have been recommended to supplement B9 during pregnancy for more than a generation. Public health had found that spina bifida rates went down when women had “enough” B9 during pregnancy. Spina bifida (when the base of the spine fails to close prior to birth) and other “neural tube defects” have since decreased when during pregnancy one eats enough dark greens or supplements with recommended amounts of the vitamin.
Mayo Clinic claimed without a citation: Some research suggests that taking folic acid when pregnant may help lower the risk of autism spectrum disorder in the child. https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-folate/art-20364625
Pregnancy and Leucovorin: Don’t, please. It was not studied in pregnancy for safety and so it is not recommended to be taken. “Leucovorin was a category C drug under the prior FDA system for categorizing medications in pregnancy.” Folate and folic acid are what Leucovorin is supposed to be a substitute for. Folic acid is the main point of “pregnancy vitamins.” Take PREGNANCY VITAMINS, not shots of a chemically-related substance. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553114/

Overdose?:
Regular Vitamin B9: There may be too much of a good thing with B9 in pregnancy. https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2016/too-much-folate-in-pregnant-women-increases-risk-for-autism-study-suggests
Yes, you can overdose on Leucovorin. (“Toxic effects may occur hours to days to weeks after methotrexate overdose or administration.”) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553114/

Nutrition Screening:
Due to picky eating, high rates of intestinal disorders, and some metabolic issues, people with autism are at a high risk of nutritional deficiencies.

Laura recommends people with autism or developmental disabilities be screened for B12 and any other vitamin deficiencies with a complete laboratory panel. Diagnose a deficiency first! Why? if you give something, and the deficiency is fixed, you will never know later for sure why something helped.
Involve a doctor anyway. If you try something without a deficiency, watch out for overdosing.

Double that recommendation before taking Leucovorin or any alternative treatment. For a person with a developmental disability, leucovorin (a relative of B9) could worsen autism symptoms if they already a B12 deficiency. (“Treating vitamin B12 deficient patients with leucovorin may reverse the megaloblastic anemia; however, it will worsen the neurological manifestations of B12 deficiency.”) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553114/

Mechanism of Action, and uses of Leucovorin:
The body can use this relative of Folic Acid without the step in the body involving dihydrofolate reductase. https://www.pdr.net/drug-summary/?drugLabelId=Leucovorin-Calcium-Tablets-leucovorin-calcium-1570#description So it has been used during the course of chemotherapy to protect cells from damage by folate inhibitors. That is to say, it has a potential protective effect on cells from specific chemotherapies. (It is not for all chemotherapies.) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553114/

Leucovorin has also been used to treat folate-deficient anemias and nutritional deficiencies. https://www.pdr.net/drug-summary/?drugLabelId=Leucovorin-Calcium-Tablets-leucovorin-calcium-1570#description

Other Aspects of Folic Acid (rather than Leucovorin):
Vitamin B9 or Folate/Folic Acid, according to the Mayo Clinic, helps make red blood cells. Sources include dark leafy greens. (My mother called her second child the “Swiss Chard” baby because she had eaten so much home-grown chard that she believed it had helped her fertility.) https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-folate/art-20364625

Deficiency in Folic Acid: Some gastrointestinal diseases such as celiac or IBD can lead to folic acid deficiency because of problems absorbing it through the small intestine.

Medical Advice:
Laura’s “medical advice” is to get medical advice. From a doctor. You can bring the information in this article to them. Get testing.
Remember to love your child, hug your dog, love your dog, hug your child, eat your greens, and have gratitude.
That’s medical advice you can rely on.

All links were active on September 23, 2025. Sources: 2025 PDR (formerly Physicians Desk Reference),
2025 Mayo Clinic, and StatPearls continuing medical education 2023: Hegde VS, Nagalli S. Leucovorin. [Updated 2023 Jul 3]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK553114/

Other Frequently Asked Questions

  • The process looks at your needs are. That includes making or confirming a speech-language diagnosis, if you do not have a current assessment.
    This practice is considered private pay. Check first with the insurance if they require prior authorization.

  • You are required to pay the full amount at time of service. A paid invoice (“superbill”) with the codes needed by insurance is available.
    Contact your insurance first for any requirements, limits, or exclusions.
    Services provided under a DDD-budget require monthly signed SDRs to authorize direct payments.

  • Absolutely, they deserve attention. Interaction with infants is critical. Oral motor issues can occur in the transition to solid food. Babies and children can be fussy eaters, and desensitization can help.
    Note: I do not claim competence in nutrition. Managing child NPO/non-per-oral feeding and swallowing is not in my training.

  • In a word, no, it will not. Research has shown this, but it’s common sense, too. You use lots of ways to communicate, every day. You talk because for you, speech is easy, portable, and doesn’t require tools. When you can’t talk to someone because they aren’t in the room, you email. You wave if they’re down the block, and get up close if they aren’t paying attention. You use Total Communication!

  • No, I paid for Prompt! for my son, with zero results. I prefer DTTC, a parent-friendly and free, well-researched system. DTTC is Direct Temporal and Tactile Cueing. It is free, available to schools and parents. Prompt is expensive, taught only in person, and excludes parents.

  • The Prompt Institute is unfriendly to parents. Their tactile cues are copyrighted and too expensive for schools. The Institute tells speech therapists to show a parent only one or 2 “sounds.” But a child’s name has at least 3 or 4 sounds. Meanwhile, speech therapists pay a lot of money to the Prompt Institute.
    My son enjoyed Prompt therapy, but he would have liked DTTC or Cued Speech, too.

    Prompt uses a consistent set of cues. So does DTTC. Your school therapist will not be sent to Prompt classes. They’re expensive and in-person. Instead, she could learn DTTC at home for free over the summer.

    Meanwhile DTTC (Direct Temporal and Tactile Cueing) trainings are free, online, available to parents and schools, and demonstrated through research.

  • The Bergen County office is adjacent Paramus, Westwood, Ridgewood, and Hillsdale in Washington Township, NJ 07676. We are near Rockland County, NY, and Passaic and Essex Counties. Paterson and Bloomfield are 20 minutes away.

    Tele-therapy is available for most clients who reside in NJ.
    NY State tele-therapy will be offered when licensing allows.

  • Depending on where and schedule, Laura may be available to come to your home or workplace.

    Travel time charges may apply.

    Laura might come into a day habilitation. Consult your Support Coordinator. If the center offers private space, services can be privately paid. If the client is “clocked out” and “clocked in” at the facility, the services could be under the client’s DDD budget.

  • The confident parent who helps their child 5 minutes a day a few days a week in real situations will be effective. Tele-therapy should help parents work better with their children in their home. On “Zoom,” you are hands-on with your child. You learn helpful words to say and ways to show things.

    It’s communication support: doing laundry, at dinner, with grandma, playing with the dog, or dancing in the living room.

    With tele-therapy, frequent short sessions are possible, too. Short and frequent can be more effective than the same time delivered in one shot.

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