An Interview with :: Elliot Handler, MD :: Medical Director

INTERVIEW

Dr. Handler, Do You Treat Autism?

We are a neurodivergence affirming treatment center. We don’t see it as a mental illness. We see it as sometimes causing problems for folks. There’s certain things that are more challenging for them than for, you know, the less neurodiverse population. At that point I’m palliating symptoms. I’m not trying to cure who somebody is. I think there’s massive evolutionary benefits to having a population with autism. 

How Do You View Autism in Society?

We have folks who have hyper fixations or special interests, and they know more about it than anyone and can advance the fields or, you know, bring their passion to teaching other people about it, and I think that’s wonderful. We talked about what it means to be in a collaborative care model, and I think humanity as a whole needs to be a collaborative care experience. Humans specialize. You know, there are people who are more athletic, they were out there hunting, and then there’s people who, you know, balance the budget back in the village. And we need that diversity. If we’re gonna continue to evolve as a society and to grow. We really need to respect different perspectives and different ways of being. That’s my view on autism. Like it’s not something to be masked, it’s not something to be cured, it’s something to be celebrated for the uniqueness that it brings.