Pediatric Neurologist for Autism

Hi A.,

My name is L. and I had two boys with Autism Spectrum Disorders. They both passed away, but I can recommend a wonderful pediatric neurologist. He sat and played with my boys and talked with me, and listened to my concerns. He was recommended to my by a good friend who works for an attorney, who knows Dr. Burris personally.

Dr. Garrett Burris also works for Judevine Center for Autism here in St. Louis. Dr. Burris is located at 226 S. Woods Mill Rd., Ste. 46W, Chesterfield, MO 63017. His phone number is ###-###-####. He is located near St. Luke's Hospital.

I can say nothing but good things about Dr. Burris. He is a wonderful doctor who actually sits and listens to the parents concerns. He sat and played with my boys for almost an hour and then talked to me for almost that long. I know long doctor's visits can be tedious, but he was wonderful! I highly recommend him!

Good luck finding a neurologist. I hope I have helped in some way.

Sincerely,

L. G.

It is ironic that I opened up my email to this request. My daughter (also 2) was just diagnosed approximately 2 weeks ago by Dr. Callahan. She is also receiving services from First Steps. He also only met with my daughter for a few minutes and then he diagnosed her with autism. I have heard terrific things about OTHER people within his office, but that would be difficult to do because you have already seen him. If you ever want to chat feel free to email me at ____@____.com
I will try to get more information to send to you.
:) S.

Hi A.,

My son is 22 mos old and we strongly suspect he's somewhere on the spectrum. Once he's 2, our pediatrician will give the OK for him to be evaluated by a Pediatric Neurologist.

I belong to a local mom's group and I asked my friends who they suggested. My friend's daughter has Aspberger's Syndrome and saw Dr. Burris. My friend said he's one of the top in his field and is very, very highly recommended.

Here's his info:
Dr. Garrett Burris
Pediatric Neurologist
226 S Woods Mill Rd., Chesterfield, MO 63017
###-###-####

That's the guy we plan to go to in a couple of months. Good luck to you and God Bless!

BTW: we're in the First Steps program, too. Isn't it the BEST?!?!

J.

Wow, My son has also seen Dr Callahan recently after waiting six months to get in. My son is adopted and has fetal alcohol syndrome. Dr Callahan was very abrupt and I was very upset after the visit. He didn't offer to do any testing, just wanted to prescribe meds and vitamins.

Good luck with your search.

Hi A.,
It sounds like you got a good referral from Laura, but I wanted to let you know of another ped neurologist you might check into if her doctor was not available.

Dr. John Mantovanni is a ped. neurologist that my youngest daughter, now 6 yrs old, has seen several times over the last 3 years. I am not sure how much of his practice deals with children with autism as we saw him for a different reason, but I can highly recommend him. His office staff is wonderful, they always scheduled appts as soon as possible, usually within the next week or two!

The nurses, or assistants, have been wonderfully sweet and kind to my daughter and thorough in their assessments, all the while she thinks they are just playing with her. They spent probably 15-20 minutes "testing" her with toys, puzzles etc and asking her questions as well as just observing her physical behaviors.

Dr. Mantovanni seemed knowledgeable, as well as unhurried, in his talks with me. He did a good job of helping me to understand what my daughter was going through and asked for and answered any questions that I had. We probably spent close to an hour total the first time we visited.

Just wanted to put my two cents in about him, because there are so few times that you are really impressed by both a doctor as well as his entire office.

Best of luck to you as you search for answers for your little boy.