246: Sarah's son can't talk about his pain

What Was That Like - True Stories. Real People.

Scott Johnson & Glassbox Media

True Crime, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.7 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 20 February 2026

⏱️ 76 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As parents, you want your child to be healthy and happy. And you’ll do anything to make that happen. But that’s not always easy when your child is autistic. Science and medicine has learned a lot about autism, but there’s still a lot of mystery around it as well. What causes it (if anything), how to treat it… there are lots of questions that are still unanswered. And a successful treatment protocol for one person might not work as well for another one. My guest today is Sarah. She and her husband, Brian, have a son named Devon, who has severe autism. Devon would have sudden behavior incidents that often turned violent, and he could hurt himself, or his parents, or his siblings. Of course, as his mother, Sarah wanted desperately to help him. But it got to the point where she didn’t know what to do. Then she found out about a hospital that could possibly help Devon. After years of frustration and exhaustion, there was maybe some hope. And with an adjustment in medication, she saw some progress with Devon. What horrified her was finding out what was actually happening at that hospital. This is the organization that Sarah mentioned as a resource: https://collaborateaba.com The Little Soul and the Sun: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Soul-Neale-Donald-Walsch/dp/1571740872/ref=sr_1_1 If you’d like to contact Sarah, she’s in the Facebook group: https://WhatWasThatLike.com/facebook Full show notes and pictures for this episode are here: https://WhatWasThatLike.com/246 Graphics for this episode by Bob Bretz. Transcription was done by James Lai. Get every episode ad-free, AND get all the Raw Audio exclusive episodes to binge, by joining the other listeners at What Was That Like PLUS. Try What Was That Like PLUS free: iPhone: at the top of the What Was That Like podcast feed, click on “Try free” Android: on your phone, go to WhatWasThatLike.com/PLUS and click to try it free on any app Sponsor deals: Visit AuraFrames.com and use promo code WHATWAS at checkout to get $45 off. If you’re 21 or older, get 25% OFF your first order + free shipping @IndaCloud with code [WHATWAS] at https://inda.shop/[WHATWAS]! #indacloudpod Go to ThriveMarket.com/WHATWAS to get 30% off your first order, plus a FREE $60 gift just for signing up. Go to Quince.com/whatwas for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns! Get 15% off OneSkin with the code [WHATWAS] at https://www.oneskin.co/ #oneskinpod Try Mint Mobile for 3 months, for just 15 bucks a month - MintMobile.com/WHAT Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	As parents, you want your child to be healthy and happy, and you'll do anything to make that happen.
0:10.1	But that's not always easy when your child is autistic.
0:17.6	Science and medicine has learned a lot about autism, but there's still a lot of mystery around it as well.
0:25.6	What causes it, if anything, how to treat it?
0:29.6	There are lots of questions that are still unanswered.
0:33.6	And a successful treatment protocol for one person might not work as well for another one.
0:42.3	My guest today is Sarah.
0:45.7	She and her husband, Brian, have a son named Devin, who has severe autism.
0:53.1	Devin would have sudden behavior incidents that often turned violent and he could hurt himself
0:59.0	or his parents or his siblings.
1:02.9	Of course, as his mother, Sarah wanted desperately to help him, but it got to the point
1:09.8	where she didn't know what to do.
1:14.3	Then she found out about a hospital that could possibly help Devin.
1:20.2	After years of frustration and exhaustion, there was maybe some hope.
1:27.2	And with an adjustment in medication, she saw some progress with Devin.
1:34.2	What horrified her was finding out what was actually happening at that hospital.
1:58.3	Real real people in unreal situations the eerie silence when i walked in he's just staring at me i was like hello like are okay? And then I had to tell him, it was me.
2:04.1	There was just blood everywhere. They're shouting, they're screaming, they're being hit by bullets,
2:09.4	they're hitting the ground. And in that moment, I literally thought, this is how I die.
2:14.1	Everything changed then. And I just thought to myself, this isn't happening. Every single
2:21.2	story deserves to be heard. I'm Scott Johnson, and this is what was that like?
2:33.3	Birthday coming up?
	...

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