What kind of evaluation is done?

The assessment includes consideration of heredity, medical history, current health status, neurologic evaluation, developmental evaluation, and assessment of specific areas of concern. The pediatric neurologist assesses problems through the understanding of the complexities of brain, spinal cord, muscle and sensory systems.

What can be gained from an evaluation?

We help parents understand specific diagnoses, plans of intervention, short term issues and concerns and long-term issues that will need attention. We work to give parents the information they need to be the best advocate for their child and to give parents the big picture of their child’s developmental and neurologic well-being. Medical considerations such as further laboratory testing, neuroimaging, nutritional interventions, and rehabilitation issues might also be a part of the evaluation.

What kind of children do we see?

We focus on children who may have a developmental disability or a neurologic problem. For example, we evaluate infants with slow motor development, toddlers with delayed speech, communication problems or autistic symptoms. We also see preschoolers and school-age children with learning difficulties. Children born with birth defects and medically fragile children, especially those with developmental disabilities, are seen to help plan their complex pediatric care. We also evaluate children who are at risk for developmental differences due to prematurity, failure to thrive, health issues, genetic concerns, adoption or issues of problem caregiving. Our pediatric neurologist works with all the above problems as well as common issues in child neurology such as headaches, epilepsy, and head concussion.