Autistic children the focus of tonight’s ‘Night of Caring’

Deirdre Newman

When Lisa Ackerman’s son, Jeff, was diagnosed with autism when he

was 2 1/2, the frustration of dealing with the condition was

compounded by her inability to find a doctor who could treat it.

After trying seven local doctors, Ackerman hit the Internet and

found a doctor in Florida who was highly recommended by other parents

of autistic children.

Ironically the next week, Ackerman ran into the doctor, Jerry

Kartzinel, at an autism conference and sought him out.

“He sat with myself and my husband,” she recalled. “He held both

of our hands and said, ‘Can I do anything for you two?’ ... We

thought he meant, ‘Do we have autism? He said, ‘No, how’s your

marriage?’ We said, ‘This is the worst event of our lives -- to have

someone say that your son will be institutionalized.’ After two

hours, we hugged him five times. My husband and I both were crying.”

The emotional meeting set the stage for Kartzinel to treat Jeff.

It also inspired Ackerman to join forces with other local parents to

pay for Kartzinel to fly out to Orange County for a few days and

treat multiple patients.

Tonight, Ackerman is co-chairing a wine-tasting party in Newport

Beach to raise funds for Kartzinel’s future visits and to pay for his

treatment of 15 local autistic children whose families can’t afford

the care.

“What [the families] get is an option to see a doctor who’s not

accepting any new patients,” Ackerman said. “There’s a 400-patient

waiting list.”

Autistic symptoms include displaying abnormal behaviors, such as

staring into space for hours, throwing uncontrollable tantrums,

showing no interest in people (including parents) and pursuing

repetitive activities with no apparent purpose, according to the

Autism Research Institute.

Since December 2000, Kartzinel has been providing his

coast-to-coast treatment to Orange County patients twice a year.

For the most recent trip, he flew in Sunday night and began seeing

patients on Monday. He will treat more than 55 autistic children over

a two-week period, as well as attend two seminars for parents and two

fund-raisers.

Although the varied symptoms of autism cannot be cured overnight,

Ackerman said she has seen a marked improvement in Jeff since

Kartzinel has been treating him.

“He wasn’t talking before,” she said. “Now he’s talking. Now we

feel hope. [Kartzinel] is a selfless individual that wants nothing

but to make every child the best they can be. If there were an award

for saints, and I was the pope, I would try to get him sainted.”