Dr. Joseph Cantwell Barber, MD

Visited Dr. Barber for roughly ten years as a child, my parents' choice. Ran for the hills once I was an adult. He is extremely condescending and does not respect personal space. Was treated like a drooling idiot when I asked any questions about my diagnosis or care. I don't think I benefitted at all from his "care" but I do have remaining trauma, am afraid to visit any other psychologist or therapist after my experience with him. Do not take your kids to him if you have any respect for them

I have never seen a doctor so rude in my life I take my granddaughter in and she does have a weight problem and he talks about her weight constantly, I work very hard about her self-confidence and he can just tear it down in one office visit also had my grandson in there he asked Chris a question Chris didn't like it and didn't answer him so he just got up and walked out of the office definitely finding a new doctor

I went back and forth about writing this review. I don’t like writing bad reviews, however I feel I should share my experience. My high energy, 2 year old daughter and I had an appointment elsewhere prior to this Dr appointment where my daughter had to wait 45 mins. We then came to this appointment where we waited about 20-30 min to see the doctor (pretty standard, not upset about that). I had brought a few small toys for my 2 year old to play with to help keep her occupied for her well child exam while waiting. She also had goldfish crackers to eat (big mistake!) Dr. Barber came in and immediately laid into me for letting her eat goldfish crackers and that she shouldn’t snack at all and just eat 3 meals a day, and if she doesn’t eat, too bad for her. My 2 year old is 19 lbs and in the 3rd percentile for weight by the way. I wasn’t so upset by that, but then he went into that she will probably need a behavior specialist....because she was standing up in front of me instead of sitting… on my lap the whole appointment. She was not running around the room or getting into anything. She was right in front of me the entire time.. behaving pretty well. I’m by no means saying my 2 year old is perfect, she does test me, and she is a strong willed child, but her behavior is age appropriate (I work with kids in the mental health field...and actually use behavior interventions daily). I did not list or verbalize any behavior concerns. He also said she is cute and very smart, but she is manipulative and it’s only going to get worse (backhanded compliment? But mostly an insult). While there’s no doubt Dr. Barber is articulate and intelligent, it comes off as abrasive and condescending. He gave me a card to go to his website to learn about parenting, which I felt was a little tacky. I was just bothered that he jumped to wild conclusions within 5 minutes of seeing my child. I felt so uncomfortable by the end of the appointment that if I had any other concerns, I would not have verbalized them. I will be switching doctors. I did not write this because he was negative about my child, mostly because I felt degraded and talked down to and not treated respectfully. I could see how a lot of others would leave feeling like a terrible parent, which is not something I stand behind.

Takes time and explains everything

I'm a mom of four kids and my oldest is 17. As such, I've had a lot of time going to my children's check-ups at the pediatrician's office over the years. Since our regular doctor just retired, our practice scheduled us with Dr. Joseph Barber--first visit yesterday for our two teen sons, second visit today for our younger daughters. Both experiences were less than stellar and the main reason for this is the fact that Joseph Barber did not listen to us at all and treated us as though we had no idea how to take care of ourselves or our children. Despite the fact that my children are clearly healthy and happy, his attitude was a holier-than-thou one, as though he had all the answers and we just had to sit quietly and listen to his training session, as though my husband and I were idiots who had no idea how to parent. I had no questions, as these were simple yearly check-ups, but usually I'm chattier with doctors and nurses, feeling that they're there to help us and get to know us. With… this guy, however, there was no break in what was apparently his typical monologue. His physical manner, at least with my girls today, was too fast, making me think, "They're not pieces of meat, careful!" The clincher was what came at the end. He sat my 13-year-old daughter down on the table and said, "Now, let's talk about your ACNE," and then proceeded to offer a 20-minute, unsolicited lecture about the evils and perils of blemishes. Seeing that my daughter was becoming visibly upset, since she really doesn't have that much acne and neither we nor her dermatologist are overly concerned, I interrupted him. I asked him if there was a medical concern regarding the acne he saw or was he just talking about the cosmetic issue. He looked me dead in the eye and said, "Scarring. She'll be scarred for life." Good Lord! He then went on to mention social pressure and that she should work to get rid of the pimples so she didn't get made fun of. I responded that my daughter is NOT her acne and that we're not overly concerned with it. (I could have said a lot more--mostly in regards to how we teach our daughters to take care of themselves but to understand that beauty is only skin deep--but I figured I'd just keep my mouth shut in order to leave sooner.) My daughter was so upset that she cried on the way home. This is not the feeling you like to have when you're leaving a doctor's check-up, and it's certainly not how you want your children to perceive appointments related to staying healthy and happy. I would steer clear of this pediatrician as his mouth seems to be working but his ears do not.

We have been seeing Dr. Barber for three years with our autistic daughter. He has an excellent bedside manner and truly listens to parents. His suggestions for us regarding our daughters behaviors have been extremely helpful. He also is very empathetic to parents coping with this life. I highly recommend him.

He is the most wonderful pediatric Dr. ever. He has changed not only our grandchild's life but also our family.

Don't waste your time on this one. Worst pediatrician I've ever been to

This doctor is so demeaning and has horrible bedside manner. He talks to you like you are an idiot (although both my husband and myself are in medical fields). He treated my child with so much disrespect that I almost had to pick my jaw up off the floor. I will NEVER take my son back there. We have gone for about 2 years after moving here and I have finally had enough.

Parent of a 12 year old Asperger's child. Agree with many parents comments about Dr. Barber. Yes his diagnosis is accurate but only after at least 8 other professionals have diagnosed my child with the same. I am a Mental Health Professional and this Dr.'s agenda is Ludacris. Depending on which path he wants to proceed with your child, he has a scripted "course of treatment" for a child. I felt like I was listening to a training that Dr. Barber was putting on. Parents are supposed to be the experts on their child right? Dr. Barber was demeaning to us as parents, told us that we were being defensive and he even had the nerve to tell us that "Your child Chose this life". What???? My child chose to be diagnosed with Asperger's?? Really? We went to him to assist with medication management, none of which we received. As parents we tried to explain our issues and problems to him, but he was too busy typing in his computer to listen to what we were saying, then asks us what our… point was. If he was listening to us, then he would have known what the point was. My son never wants to go back to see him. Both the nurse and Dr. Barber did not call the child by his correct name even after both parents told him what the child's name was. Dr. Barber was more befuttled on how to get the child's name correct on the medical record than he was in assisting us with our current concerns. Go ahead and read his BLOG and see what course of treatment that he is going to put your child in so you can hear the same stuff over and over at each coming appointment. Save yourself some time and find a different doctor. This is one of the worst experiences I have ever had. He is not even interested in reading or listening to prior reports from REAL professionals.