LOS ANGELES, July 9, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The new Boone Fetter Clinic at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles offers interdisciplinary assessments, consultation and medical services for Autism Spectrum Disorders managed by board-certified developmental behavioral pediatricians, according to Roberta G. Williams, M.D., FACC, MACC, MAHA, vice president, Pediatrics and Academic Affairs, at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles.
According to Dr. Williams, services offered at the Boone Fetter Clinic are delivered in "...a healing environment of compassion and understanding," working with parents to develop an effective, personalized plan-of-care.
The Boone Fetter Clinic and the Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, working in partnership with the USC University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities [UCEDD], build on the hospital's longstanding commitment to children with developmental disabilities. Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is one of the few providers in Greater Los Angeles that accepts insurance for comprehensive, interdisciplinary assessments for Autism Spectrum Disorders for both Medi-Cal and privately insured patients.
The Boone Fetter Clinic at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is made possible through the generosity of the Boone Family Foundation.
The Boone Fetter Clinic uses state-of-the-science assessments and evaluation techniques by an interdisciplinary team of experienced professionals, including developmental pediatricians, child psychologists, speech/language pathologists and pediatric occupational therapists, typically over two or three visits to identify both the child's developmental strengths and areas of concern. Some children may need additional testing.
The diagnostic and clinical assessments at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles are interdisciplinary and include the following:
* Review of the child's medical, psychosocial and developmental history; * Physical examination; * Psychological assessment; * Speech and language assessment; * Pediatric occupational therapy assessment; * Social and behavioral observations by the interdisciplinary team
The Boone Fetter Clinic offers an Autism Warm Phone Line for parents, which provides families with access to a nurse care manager to address concerns, assess services and receive counsel on advocacy for their child. This service is made available through the generosity of the William Randolph Hearst Foundation.
Disorders considered to be neurodevelopmental in origin or to have neurodevelopmental consequences when they occur in infancy and childhood include autism and autism spectrum disorders; traumatic brain injury, including congenital injuries such as those that cause cerebral palsy; communication, speech and language disorders; genetic disorders, such as Down syndrome and Rett syndrome; epilepsy; fetal alcohol syndrome; learning disorders; neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) affect an estimated 3.4 of every 1,000 children between the ages of three and 10, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. These disorders are characterized by ".varying degrees of impairment in communication skills, social interactions and restricted, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior." In most cases, the problems in communication and social skills become more noticeable as the child lags further behind other children the same age. The differences in the way they react to people and other unusual behaviors become apparent, often between 12 and 36 months.
Tailored and comprehensive assessments, early interventions and well-managed aftercare services are critical to support the healthy development of children affected by autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Central to this approach is the availability of a wide range of specialists who can collectively address the broad array of health needs for children with developmental and behavioral issues
The Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is a unique subspecialty that focuses on a child's strengths and challenges within the context of the family using a bio-psycho-social perspective, and it provides comprehensive and culturally informed clinical, teaching, and research activities. The clinical program serves children with developmental and behavioral problems, which includes autism, child abuse, prematurity, behavioral disorders and developmental disabilities. The teaching program integrates all levels of training from the pediatric intern and senior resident rotations to our ACGME-accredited Fellowship Program. Research activities encompass the areas of child abuse, obesity, high-risk infant follow up, interpersonal communication and mental health.
Dr. Williams said that a child with developmental and/or behavioral issues often benefits from visits with a developmental behavioral pediatrician in addition to his or her regular pediatrician; that is, the child sees his or her pediatrician for issues specific to his or her general physical health and with a developmental behavioral pediatrician to manage developmental and developmental behavioral pediatrician issues.
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is also engaged in innovative research on the early identification and and intervention for children with Autism Spectrum Disorders. This research is made available through the generosity of the Las Madrinas Endowment for Autism Research, Intervention and Outcomes.
The Boone Fetter Clinic and Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics (DBP) Program at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, along with the USC UCEDD, is part of the CHLA-USC Institute for the Developing Mind, a bold new initiative that will provide children and families with a central source for clinical assessment, treatment and a wide range of additional resources. It will also offer innovative clinical research programs that can hold the promise of providing new treatment opportunities.
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been committed to children with developmental disabilities for more than 45 years. Originally funded in 1966, the USC UCEDD at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is a nationally recognized leader in developing and supporting quality services and systems for individuals with, or at risk for, behavioral, developmental and/or special health care needs and their families.
The USC UCEDD is committed to full community inclusion for children with these problems; and is actively involved in the training of professionals to work in an interdisciplinary model for the care of these children and their families. Two of its many programs include the Leadership Education in Neuro-developmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) graduate training program; and the pre- and post-doctoral APA accredited psychology training program. The Mental Health program serves children with emotional and behavioral disturbances as well as at-risk children and families, including those with special health care needs, developmental disabilities and a history of child abuse or neglect. This program works under contract with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.
Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has pioneers in this field, including Richard Koch, M.D., a pioneer in the development of developmental disabilities as a discipline, who was the first director of Lanterman Regional Center, one of the two regional centers that founded the California system of regional centers; and Barbara Korsch, M.D., who helped develop the field of developmental/behavioral pediatrics and was the founding president of both the Behavioral Pediatrics Society, now the Developmental Behavioral Pediatrics Society, and the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, now the Academic Pediatric Association.
Founded in 1901, Childrens Hospital Los Angeles has been treating the most seriously ill and injured children in Los Angeles for more than a century, and it is acknowledged throughout the United States and around the world for its leadership in pediatric and adolescent health. Childrens Hospital is one of America's premier teaching hospitals, affiliated with the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California since 1932. The Saban Research Institute of Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is among the largest and most productive pediatric research facilities in the United States.
Since 1990, U.S. News & World Report and its panel of board-certified pediatricians have named Childrens Hospital Los Angeles one of the top pediatric facilities in the nation. Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is one of only 10 children's hospitals in the nation -- and the only children's hospital on the West Coast -- ranked in all 10 pediatric specialties in the new U.S. News & World Report rankings and named to the magazine's "Honor Roll" of children's hospitals.
The Childrens Hospital Los Angeles logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=4482
Visit our website: www.ChildrensHospitalLA.org