Developmental Pediatric Clinic

Mission: The Developmental Pediatric Clinic evaluates children who are having developmental, academic, and/or behavioral difficulties and other special issues such as cerebral palsy, which may be associated with learning problems. The goal is to develop a profile and treatment plan that reflects the input from all the team members who have evaluated the child. The family plays the key role in the evaluation- a family-centered approach is utilized.

Approach: A team approach is used to evaluate patients. The goal is to evaluate, diagnose, and develop suggestions, which reflects the input from all the team members who have evaluated the patient. The Developmental Pediatrician evaluates the child initially and upon his or her referral to the patient is subsequently seen by the other specialists within the clinic or possibly outside the clinic depending on the individual case. It is preferred that a follow-up visit with the developmental pediatrician be scheduled to review the evaluations and provide follow-up.

Teaching: Pediatric Residents and Third Year Medical Students rotate through the Developmental Pediatric Clinic and Residents spend one month observing/assisting the physicians and being exposed to all aspects of the evaluation. We also have speech and psychology students who are involved in Masters and Ph.D. programs participating in some of our assessments under the direct supervision of our staff.

Referrals: Physicians, teachers, and other community professionals usually generate our referrals.

Staff: Our staff can be seen by logging onto the internet:        http://pediatrics.med.sc.edu/divisions/developmental_pediatrics.htm

The following are explanations of the types of evaluations that are completed at the Developmental Pediatric Clinic:

Developmental Pediatrician/Nurse Practitioner: The child and his or her parents (guardians) are seen first by the developmental pediatrician. The developmental pediatrician takes an extensive family and child history. The pediatrician also explores medical issues that may be contributing to the difficulties being encountered by the child. A physical is also completed as a look at development. Based upon the findings of this assessment, other specialists at the clinic may become involved (see below).

Psychologist/Nurse Practitioner: (with young child, 0-2 years) This evaluation involves an interview with the parent/guardian, assessment of different abilities across the domains of language, motor, social, and early cognitive skills, as well as adaptive/independent functioning. At the conclusion of the assessment, the psychologist/nurse practitioner will review some preliminary information obtained and discuss different general recommendations and/or intervention strategies. There will be a comprehensive written report sent upon its completion describing more specific results and recommendations.

Psychologist: (with children over the age of 3 years) This type of evaluation includes an interview with parents/guardian(s), an assessment of cognitive ability, learning processes, achievement (reading, math, writing), behavioral and emotional issues if needed, and an assessment of adaptive/independent functioning if necessary. At the conclusion of the assessment, the psychologist will review some preliminary information obtained and discuss different recommendations and/or intervention strategies. There will be a comprehensive written report sent upon its completion describing more specific results and recommendations.

Speech-Language Pathologist: Speech-language evaluations include a variety of tests that are designed to measure communication strengths and weaknesses as well as interviews with parents/guardians to obtain information about how the child/student interacts in other situations. At the conclusion of the assessment, the speech-language pathologist will provide an overview of the information obtained and discuss general recommendations for interventions. A comprehensive written report will be sent and this report will contain more specific results and recommendations.