Troy Krombholz: Editor’s Note
By Rick Rader, MD, Editor-in-chief, HELEN
Several months ago, I attended the annual educational conference sponsored by the Chattanooga Autism Center. This was particularly a rare opportunity since I was not making a presentation and took advantage of being able to select those workshops that I felt I needed to attend.
One workshop raised my curiosity. It was a workshop on how individuals with autism needed to be both aware of their health status and how to advocate to ensure they were receiving comprehensive, compassionate, and individualized care. It was a call to action and a reminder that the individual, not the physician, was the expert of their health and wellbeing.
The presenter was a young autistic man, Troy Krombholz, who shared his medical journey to a packed and overflowing audience. Health care, as Troy shared, serves as the vehicle for all of us to make our place in the world.
Without knowing it, Troy has an uncanny appreciation for the current buzzwords in medicine today: the “patient experience” and the “patient narrative.” His message was important, not only for the autistic audience, but for those who support, educate, and advocate for this population.
After the presentation I approached Troy to congratulate him on a great presentation and shared with him that his message, guidance, and navigation needed to be continued and shared. HELEN is proud to provide Troy’s journey and how we hope it will inspire both patients and physicians to demand a true partnership of care.