After being in the autism world for over 27 years as the mom of two sons, my oldest son, Lucas, has profound autism and needs 24/7 supervision and care. My younger son, Spencer, is a physician. I’ve been in the autism world for decades—not only as a mom, but also as a doctoral-level board-certified behavior analyst, bestselling author of two books translated into dozens of languages, and an online course creator. Today, I decided to do a video podcast to share my five rants—or soapboxes—and a call to action for both parents and professionals heading into 2026.

So let’s get into it.

Rant number one: Why are we all waiting? Waiting for evaluations, for therapy, for a diagnosis—while not taking serious action at the first signs of possible autism or any kind of delay. It is incredibly hard to tell whether a young child has autism, ADHD, sensory issues, typical toddler tantrums, or a simple speech delay. But if a child has any delays, it’s time to act. Research consistently shows that intervening at the first signs of delays leads to the best outcomes.

For years, parents have told me they are waiting nine months to two years for an autism evaluation. Meanwhile, there is so much that can be done during those months—or years—to improve skills and, in many cases, help children catch up significantly. In podcast episode 259, Can You Outgrow Autism?, I reviewed a 2023 study of over 200 children in the Boston area who were diagnosed with autism between ages one and three. When re-evaluated at ages five to seven, 37% no longer qualified for an autism diagnosis.

I’ve seen similar outcomes in families inside my online courses and community. Some children never received a diagnosis and are thriving in school without support. Others who did receive a diagnosis are now going to college, driving, and living fulfilling lives. I used to automatically recommend getting on waiting lists and calling Early Intervention as soon as delays were noticed. Now, I encourage parents and professionals to take massive action right away—learning my four-step approach and beginning to turn things around independently while also determining which evaluations and therapies make sense for their individual child.

Rant number two: Traditional early intervention is not enough. If your child has Early Intervention services in place, those sessions are often insufficient—especially for toddlers showing signs of autism. In many ways, the EI system is stuck where it was when Lucas received services in the late 1990s. He had one hour of speech therapy, one hour of OT, and one hour of teacher time per week.

For children over three in EI classrooms, there is often very little one-to-one time and minimal support for parents at home or in the community. Professionals are usually well-meaning and knowledgeable, but they work in silos. They rarely coordinate with one another, which often results in contradictory advice. A speech therapist might recommend eliminating the pacifier to increase speech, while an occupational therapist might suggest keeping it for sensory regulation—leaving parents confused.

There is also a lack of behavioral expertise to address language, self-care, and problem behaviors together using systematic, child-friendly methods. Piecing together random tips from books, videos, or social media is not enough. When you’re learning how to help a child with delays, you need a deep, cohesive approach.

Rant number three: Parents are told to leave everything to the professionals—and that’s not realistic. Parents often say, “I just want to be the parent,” or “I want my child to have a normal childhood.” But children are awake 80 to 100 hours per week. You cannot outsource that time.

Parents must know how to help their children eat, sleep, tolerate grooming, attend family outings, and manage daily routines. Even my typically developing son Spencer—now a physician—had feeding issues, sleep challenges, chronic ear infections, and delayed speech early on. Parenting is scary when you don’t know how things will turn out.

If you have a child with delays, illnesses, or autism, you must become, as I say in Turn Autism Around, the captain of the ship. Even with 30–40 hours per week of excellent ABA services, more than half of your child’s waking hours remain. Those hours matter. They’re when language, self-care, and behavior are truly shaped.

Parents who learn how to teach and generalize skills can also train nannies, grandparents, and professional teams—leading to faster progress and far less stress. This doesn’t mean professionals aren’t needed. But not all therapy is created equal, and therapy that doesn’t consider a child’s strengths, family values, or reinforcement needs can waste precious time.

Rant number four: Why is everything in the autism world so controversial? Autism is complex—medically, developmentally, and behaviorally. Treating only one area, such as speech, without addressing self-care, behavior, and daily functioning simply doesn’t work.

Parents often seek quick fixes, including supplements or biomedical treatments. While those may play a role for some families, without a system to track progress and work on foundational skills simultaneously, it can feel like a frustrating game of whack-a-mole.

Language improvement is particularly controversial. Some professionals believe only speech-language pathologists should address speech. While I deeply respect SLPs and rely on their evaluations, language is behavior—and it can be taught using evidence-based verbal behavior strategies rooted in decades of research. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior was published in 1957, and my own work in this area has been translated worldwide. Teaching language should never be controversial—especially when it’s integrated with self-care and behavior support.

Rant number five: Take action—starting today. If you’ve made it this far, here’s what I recommend:

First, stop waiting and worrying. Stop endlessly scrolling for free information that leaves you overwhelmed and paralyzed.

Second, parents and professionals must work together using a cohesive approach so children can be as safe, independent, and happy as possible.

Third, attend a free workshop to learn my four-step approach and consider joining our online course and community—or apply for high-touch coaching if resources allow. Taking action matters.

Those are my five rants. I’m passionate because I believe that if I had this step-by-step approach 25 years ago, Lucas’s life—and mine—would look very different. But we must let go of “could have, should have, would have.” The more we learn, the better we can act.

My hope is that you take action in 2026 and beyond. Thank you for joining me today. If this video resonated with you, please leave a comment, share it with others, and I’ll see you next time.