The Thomas Center for Down Syndrome Services provide comprehensive assessment and treatment plans for infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. By providing a range of services within one center, you can now spend less time finding help through multiple agencies and professionals. We provide your family with a full continuum of care, including evaluation, treatment and ongoing research.
The Center offers comprehensive services by experts in a variety of areas including:
Assessments provide information on current strengths and recommendations for new or continued intervention to support current needs. We are able to order laboratory studies or make referrals to other medical specialists within Cincinnati Children’s or closer to your home when appropriate.
There are several types of evaluations at the Thomas Center, each with the goal of better understanding your child’s specific strengths and needs.
For infants under 6 months of age, you can schedule an approximately 1 hour visit to focus on medical questions, feeding needs, and development. Prior to this visit, our nurse care coordinator will reach out by phone to identify your priorities. The visit includes a developmental-behavioral pediatrician and occupational therapist. We discuss your priorities and provide care that considers medical needs and care guidelines, therapeutic supports for your infant, and share information on community resources. We strive to answer questions you may have and provide guidance to support your child and your family. At the end of this visit, we will coordinate the follow-up visits based on your priorities. We will discuss the option of interval therapy or medical visits as well as the transition to our arena team for children 6 months to 3 years, 11 months. While we try to schedule visits when all providers are available, we do want to ensure you have a touchpoint with the Thomas Center. Therefore, depending on your priorities, we may proceed with a visit individually with the developmental-behavioral pediatrician or occupational therapist. Our goal is to provide you with the tools and knowledge to support your child’s growth and development.
For children 6 months to 3 years 11 months, we coordinate visits with a team of staff to accommodate the young children and their family. A team visit will include two consecutive appointment times. One appointment will include a medical visit with a developmental-behavioral pediatrician or advance practice nurse. Another longer appointment will include a team visit in a larger play area. During this appointment, an occupational therapist, physical therapist, registered dietitian, and speech-language pathologist will meet with you and evaluate your child. This visit type allows for maximal information to be assessed taking into account the strengths and needs of the child. If all of our team is not available on a specific day, we make efforts to meet the individual needs of your family in subsequent visits. If you have an area of developmental priority, this will be discussed in advance with our nurse care coordinator. Early milestones including feeding, moving, and talking are addressed. Recommendations are provided at the end of the visit with formal reports shared with you following the visit.
Our staff is available to work with children and their families, as well as professionals and agencies in the community, to maximize the potential for all individuals with Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome). We provide consultation, direct intervention and co-treatment in the areas of speech and language, behavior management, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and feeding / nutrition. For children who are also diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, we work with colleagues in the Kelly O’Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders to support your child’s individual needs.
Adolescents and adults with Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) can be seen within the transition program through the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. This clinical program will work with you to map out transition needs including aspects of care such as adult medical care, social supports, vocational planning, and financial planning. Information regarding SSI, guardianship, Developmental Disability Services, and the waiver system is provided. Referrals for supporting evaluations are made as needed.
Our staff is available to work with children and their families, as well as professionals and agencies in the community, to maximize the potential for all individuals with Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome). We provide consultation, direct intervention and co-treatment in the areas of speech and language, behavior management, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and feeding / nutrition. For children who are also diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, we work with colleagues in the Kelly O’Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders to support your child’s individual needs.
Some children with Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) need augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) support when they are having difficulty producing speech or are very difficult to understand. The Thomas Center offers specialty evaluations for AAC and treatment with a variety of AAC methods. AAC can be high-tech, such as a computer that is programmed to talk for the child. AAC can also be low-tech by using simple pictures, sign language, or a device that plays recorded messages. A speech-language pathologist with a specialty in AAC will assist in the selection of the AAC device that best fits the needs of the child. Parent training and device programming is also available.
We have psychologists who can work with parents and caregivers in treatment sessions to provide individualized support to support social-emotional well-being and address behavioral concerns. These can occur with children and adolescents.
We understand that school can be challenging. Our educational support services include special education consultation, diagnostic evaluation, school observation, IEP and curriculum support, and participation in school team meetings. These services are offered free of charge to families using, or who have used within the last two years for other services offered through the Thomas Center. This is to ensure your child’s health care is up-to-date and is not contributing to other concerns such as school behavior.
Our psychologist will provide support and treat individuals with Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome) for a variety of general behavioral and mental health needs. Children can also receive cognitive and behavioral evaluations (may be impacted by insurance coverage).
3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3026
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