My 11-year-old son is pooping his pants!

For many reading this you will look back fondly (maybe) on the excitement and adventure of starting your own practice from scratch. Remember all the people you had to meet to get those first few practice members? Do you remember your first new patient?

 One of our new TNR members is starting a practice from scratch in the great state of Montana in the middle of this mass hysteria. On a recent coaching call, he was asking for guidance on the best sources of new patients.

I told him that people who aren’t paralyzed with fear in the middle of this pandemic are actually searching for a different kind of Chiropractor, someone that goes above and beyond what most people think Chiropractors do.

I suggested that he should email all kinds of people in the body arts (yoga, massage, occupational and physical therapy, martial arts, pediatric dentists, etc.) and invite them to get to know him.

Most didn’t answer the email (imagine that?) but the ones that did identified themselves as wanting to help in some way, you know being neighborly. Some called him or did  Face Time, while others wanted a face-to-face meeting. Overall they were kind and wished him luck with his new office. One talked about developing a strategic alliance with him.

One massage therapist blew him away. The phone conversation with her was polite and cordial and really was not going anywhere. Then it changed. When our DC asked her if she saw kids in her practice, she answered yes. He said that he did too. He mentioned that he sees all kinds of neurologically challenged kids with issues ranging from anxiety to depression, PDD spectrum disorder, etc.

She said, ‘Shut the front door, are you kidding me? I have an 11-year-old son on the spectrum who has been without a live teacher for 143 days now and is regressing, including pooping his pants. His teaching has been restricted to online, distance learning, videos, and cartoons. They simply don’t do the job and are poor substitutes for live teaching. He is spiraling downward." She told the Chiropractor that she feels so helpless. It’s like her son is 6 years old again.

She immediately made an appointment for an evaluation and filled out the Baseline Assessment. She explained that she understands the concerns of politicians regarding matters of safety and public health. Then she blurted out that she would take her chances with the flu since it's a 1 in a million chance of dying for an 11-year-old kid,  rather than close the door on the mental, emotional, and intellectual development of her son.

What most people don’t realize about PDD kids is when they grow up they are no better off and in many cases, they are worse. When parents age and can no longer care for them, they are warehoused in facilities and become wards of the state, institutionalized.

Step up for your people in your community. Let others practice in the outdated model of adult pain relief. Always remember that all the neck and back pain relief in the world won’t change the world. Giving an already challenged kid a second chance will. Who knows what gift this kid will share with the world if given a second chance.