Nikita Bezborodov: Child psychiatrist — about autism and ASD

The latest research in medicine and the science of autism

The guest of the episode is a child psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and lecturer at Riga Stradins University (RSU), a specialist in the field of mental health of children and adolescents.

00:00 Main highlights of the interview
00:57 Introduction. Meeting Nikita Bezborodov
03:58 How the support pathway for children with ASD is organized in Latvia
05:54 Is the diagnosis of “autism” always made correctly?
11:20 What conditions can look like autism?
16:48 ASD diagnosis: MRI, tests, and searching for causes
25:00 Why is early autism diagnosis so important?
27:27 Can vaccination cause autism?
30:10 How does autism screening work?
34:06 Who should be the main specialist for a child with ASD?
36:45 Speech therapist, ABA, and alternative communication
39:43 Vitamin deficiencies, hormones, and the “wow effect” from correction
44:33 Omega-3, magnesium, vitamin D: do children with ASD need supplements?
48:50 The future of diagnosis: will autism be divided into different subtypes?
51:22 Neuroinflammation and autism: what does science know today?
53:36 Aggression and self-aggression: what lies behind a child's behavior?
59:09 Medications for autism: what can they do and what can’t they do?
1:05:32 Can autism be “cured”?
1:10:40 Why do some children speak while others remain nonverbal?
1:16:39 Alternative communication and language development
1:20:58 Cartoons and English speech in children with autism
1:24:08 Sensory features and overload in ASD
1:35:15 Tomatis, micropolarization, and other controversial methods
1:39:00 Parental burnout, isolation, and lack of support
1:41:55 Three key pieces of advice for a family after diagnosis
1:46:56 End of the interview

For me, Nikita is not only an amazing doctor and specialist, but also a person who is deeply interested in modern research in the field of autism and ASD.

It is precisely thanks to such specialists that parents gain hope that, year by year, medicine and science will better understand the nature of autism, diagnose it more accurately, and find more effective ways to help and support our children.

This became a very deep, honest, and important conversation — about what we already know about autism today and what answers still remain to be found. This interview will be useful not only for families raising children with autism, but also for everyone who wants to better understand child development and modern approaches to support.