FAQ:
Make My Child Better

What can I do to “cure” my child?

  • About Speech Therapy:
    When a speech therapist is practicing within their license, it is highly unlikely they will harm a child. Quick improvement to match your typical peers is not expected, in a lifelong developmental disability. Quality, methods, and results vary because goals and situations vary.

  • For many children, “cures” through speech therapy are not possible, but therapy improves their situation. For some, a few weeks to months brings a child to the level of peers, but for many, progress may take years.

  • Alternative “Cures”: There are no standard treatments, medications, or supplements that will help all children with a particular speech or language disorder.
    Some parents are in a hurry for a “cure” now. I did that myself at one point.
    I tried to push improvement in my son for years just after 1999. His overall health got better when his food allergies mostly resolved (like his father’s had, during elementary school). His disabilities did not change from any alternative medicine, not even a little.

  • What the Child Understands about “Cures”:
    I tried alternative medicine with my son when he was little, and we recently talked about that time (using his non-speech AAC communication).

  • My son wanted “vitamins” and treatments to be magical. He tried hard to “be good” when he knew he was getting them. After a few days of pushing himself, he would rebound and burn out from stress. He would get worse, every time, a few days after something new.

  • He understood that something about him was unacceptably wrong. He was different, less, ill, or maybe “needed” medicine. It hurts me to think what I was doing to his sense of self worth. The energy and money I spent experimenting diverted me from accepting and loving and coaching my child.

  • The “cures” parents try all have potential dangers. 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

Laura is not licensed to practice medicine or pharmacy. Laura’s medical advice is to get medical advice.
This information is intended to serve the community with sources that Laura believes are reliable. If in the future, the sources or information linked to are found to be false, this information may not be updated. Laura Weinberg and Laura Weinberg CCC-SLP LLC are not liable for broken links, missing information, or opinions of the 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, as if it were not in anything he ate. It was heavily in his diet, and we tried various supplements with it. Zinc deficiency would lead to many symptoms he has experienced. Let me be clear: taking zinc never improved his blood levels, or symptoms.
So I know:

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 such a thing existed. Then we could read their genetics and know what to prescribe them, specifically. Maybe the pathways will be mapped and tests marketed some day soon to find out what a person’s specific problem is, in all their cells. 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.” 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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