At your first visit, you will meet with a nurse or medical assistant. The medical assistant or nurse will find out your concerns and weigh and measure your child. You will then see a developmental-behavioral pediatrician, occupational therapist and speech-language pathologist together during the visit. This allows us to examine early feeding, movement, and speech skills while asking for background information once. The team takes time to listen and develop a plan for your child with you. Our goal is to help you understand your child’s health needs and next steps in development, and access any supports your child needs.
For children 6 months to 4 years, children will have two visits which are back to back. One appointment will include a medical visit with a developmental-behavioral pediatrician. Another longer appointment will include a team visit in a larger play area. During this appointment, a dietitian, occupational therapist, physical therapist and speech-language pathologist will meet with you and evaluate your child. This type of visit allows for maximal information to be assessed taking into account the needs of the child. Prior to the visit, we take time to review what is in your child’s medical record within Cincinnati Children's. The team assessment begins with finding out your main priorities. The developmental-pediatrician will focus on a medical history. The therapists will assess your child’s development across various domains. Early milestones including feeding, moving, and talking are addressed.
We will discuss with you additional testing we recommend, if any, then review with you our recommendations for a treatment plan. This may include education about Down syndrome, recommendations to support feeding, motor skills and speech, medical treatment, or referral to other specialists if necessary.
Recommendations are provided at the end of the visit with formal reports mailed to you following the visit. While the list of providers may look overwhelming, most families have been pleased with the ease and coordination of this visit. We do understand that one-size does not fit every family and for that reason separate appointments with providers may be recommended. 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, be sure to indicate this when you schedule the visit.
Individual appointments can be scheduled with our medical doctors or advanced practitioner nurse specializing in developmental and behavioral pediatrics. Referrals for additional individual evaluations (academic, cognitive, occupational, physical, speech) or treatment programs (behavior, education supports, occupational, physical, speech) are then scheduled as necessary.
Transition planning to adult medical care and services are facilitated as appropriate for the age of the child. Information regarding SSI, guardianship, Developmental Disability Services, and the waiver system is provided. Referrals for supporting evaluations are made as necessary.