Strange Assumption for a Physician

A very good friend has a 4 yr old diagnosed with autism (he was diagnosed when 2) and has come a long way from the way he was then with no focus, speech issues.  He has been with therapists for 2 years now and you can see a big difference. He still has terrible outbursts, delays, etc.  He had another issue with a testicle not descending and the "urologist" said to the parents, "Did you say this child is autistic?"  He said, "I don't see it"  ???  How can a uroligist say something like this?  Now members of his family think he never had it, but his doctors and professional therapists for the past 2 years clearly see this.
Can you advise what to make of this?    All the info on autism states it does not go away, it
's not like the flu..I would love your opinion.
Thank you

[Richard B. Graff, PhD, BCBA-D]

It's hard to know what this individual meant by his statement, but I would not spend any time worrying about it or wondering about it.  Perhaps this statement was related to his lack of current knowledge of autism (most urologists have little knowledge of the assessment of young children with autism), or perhaps it was a poor attempt at giving a complement to the child and the people who have worked so hard teaching him over the past 2 years (e.g., He has made SO much progress over the past two years that NOW,his behaviors do not look very different than the behaviors that typical children of that age emit).  I assume the physician did not spend an extended period of time with the child, so whatever he saw on his brief observation may not have been representative of the child's overall behavior.  Personally, I would suggest that the parents not dwell on this comment.

Best of luck.