Autism and Neurodevelopmental Referral Guidelines

Department: Developmental Psychology
Location: Main Hospital, Third Floor, Suite 3800
Phone: 202-476-5405
Fax: 202-476-4043
Ages served: Birth through 3 years

• Services offered: 
  • Comprehensive developmental evaluations assessing cognitive, language, motor, adaptive, attention/self-regulation and social/emotional functioning in infants, toddlers and preschool-aged children (including consultation regarding treatment-planning)
  • Autism evaluations (including the ADOS); initial diagnosis and biannual follow-up
  • NICU follow-up (prematurity, birth complications, etc.)
  • Children with complex medical histories or otherwise at risk for delays
  • Developmental delay; children who are not meeting milestones
  • Bilingual evaluations (Spanish) 

• Insurances that cover services:
  • State Insurance: Amerigroup, MD Medicaid, Anthem Healthkeepers, VA Premier, All DC Medicaids
  • Commercial Insurance: All except Cigna (depends on plan)

• Wait time: Five - six months
• Information for referral: Reason for referral, insurance and patient information. A phone intake will be conducted with the family before scheduling.
• How to refer and schedule: Please refer to the Child Development Program at 202-476-5405 (direct line, answered by our office administrator). Our administrator will plan for phone intake and then schedule an appointment.
• Additional information: The Child Development Clinic (aka, Developmental Psychology) is a separate clinic from Developmental Pediatrics. Even if your referral states ‘Developmental Pediatrics,’ children under the age of 3 should be seen by the Child Development Clinic. 

Locations: Annapolis Outpatient Center, Friendship Heights Outpatient Center, Howard County Outpatient Center, Montgomery County Outpatient Center, Prince George's County Outpatient Center, Takoma Theatre
Phone: 202-729-3300
Fax: 202-476-4336
Ages served: 0-21, New evaluations for children up to 18 years of age

• Services offered:
  • Evaluation for developmental delays in:
    • Speech and language
    • Motor functioning
    • Cognitive/ academic/ problem solving
    • Social/emotional skills
  • Evaluations include medical and developmental assessments:
    • ADHD evaluation and treatment
    • Evaluation for academic underachievement and learning problems
    • Evaluation for behavior concerns in children under 12 years
    • Autism evaluation and management

Note: Most evaluations include screening assessments and sometimes use developmental assessment tools to aid with diagnosis and recommendations. We DO NOT provide comprehensive IQ testing or neuropsychological evaluations.

• Insurance accepted: Aetna-HMO, Aetna-Non HMO, Amerigroup DC, Amerigroup MD, AmeriHealth, Anthem, Care First, Cigna, DC Medicaid, DC MedStar, Human/Tricare, InTotal Health, Kaiser Permanente, Maryland Medicaid, Priority Partners, UHC Community, VA Medicaid. All insurance options under the Children's National umbrella are also accepted.
• Wait time: Two - six months depending on location
• Information for referral: Reason for referral, copies of previous testing from school or privately, ADHD rating scales, early Intervention reports
• How to refer and schedule: Directly contact the clinic closest to you to schedule an appointment: Annapolis Outpatient Center: 410-266-6582; Prince George’s County: 301-276-9150; Rockville Outpatient Center: 301-294-0897; Takoma Theatre: 202-729-3300; Sheikh Zayed (Main Hospital): 202-476-3508..

Location: Friendship Heights, Shady Grove, Takoma Theatre, Upper Marlboro
Phone: 301-765-5432
Fax: 301-765-5470
Ages served: 1-26

• Services offered:
  • Standalone and multidisciplinary assessments, including speech-language pathologists, psychiatrists, psychologists and neuropsychologists
    • Diagnostic assessments – focused autism assessment and differential diagnosis
    • Neuropsychological assessments – comprehensive assessment of neuropsychological functioning in school-age children and young adults, including autism characteristics
    • Developmental assessments – comprehensive assessment for individuals with lower language levels
    • Preschool assessments – comprehensive assessments for younger children
  • Treatment
    • Individual and group therapy
  • Family support services
  • Research
• Insurance accepted: Kaiser, GEHA, NCAS, Aetna, PHCS, NCPPO, Cigna, United Behavioral Health, MDIPA, Blue Cross Blue Shield, TRICARE. Virginia: Anthem HealthKeepers Plus. Maryland: Optum BH. D.C.: AmeriHealth and HSCSN.
• Wait time:
  • Assessments (Current wait times for all assessment services are at least 12 months)
    • Diagnostic assessments
    • Neuropsychological assessments
    • Developmental assessments
    • Preschool assessments
  • Treatment
    • Individual and group therapy – recruitment cycles at set times during the year
    • Psychiatric treatment – currently, no new patients, but we are working on hiring an additional psychiatrist.

• Information for referral: Complete the intake entirely and ask the family to provide recent prior records if applicable (psychological, educational, speech therapy, school IEP), as well as insurance information.
• How to refer and schedule: Complete intake and send to our department along with recent records (as noted above) in one of the following ways:

• Via online form
• Email to NeuroPsychAutism@childrensnational.org;
• Fax to 301-765-5470; or
• Mail to 15245 Shady Grove Rd., Suite 350, Rockville, MD 20850. 

A scheduler will contact the family to schedule an appointment.

The service offers support and information for safe care planning for behaviorally high-risk patients with autism and related developmental disabilities referred by a Children's National medical/dental provider.

Location: Main hospital
Phone: 202-476-2884
Fax: 202-476-3393
Email
Ages served: 2-22

• Services offered: The ABC service is a consultation service available through Children's National provider referral for patients who may experience barriers to successful medical or dental care related to their developmental differences.
• ABC team members:
  • Kathleen Atmore, Psy.D., outpatient developmental neuropsychological consultation, provider consultation, clinical supervision
  • Katherine Williamson, OTR, inpatient (medical services) behavioral and adaptive support, hospital staff education
  • Andrea Del’Aguila, MA, program coordinator

• Patients referred for ABC services receive an online questionnaire to be completed by parents/caregiver that is entered in the medical record. The ABC questionnaire offers information and strategies regarding communication, behavioral and sensory needs that impact medical care and coping in the medical setting. This information is available in the medical record under ABC documents and is shared with the Child Life specialists and care teams for all referrals coming in for overnight video EEG, Surgery, Dental, Radiology, and Lab services.
• Patients and families in need of direct 1:1 care will be identified and seen by the ABC inpatient provider, Katherine Williamson, OT, or outpatient telehealth by Kathleen Atmore, Psy.D., for a review of past educational and behavioral interventions to develop or update the behavioral care plan. 
  *Please note we do not provide autism diagnostic evaluations
• Insurance accepted: All
• Wait time: None     
• Information for referral: ABC Cerner order and please email us with reason for referral, referring provider contact and updated parent phone/email.
• Additional information:

• Information and resources are available to Children's National staff on the Intranet.
• Staff, referring providers and families can also visit our Autism Visual Resources: Preparing Your Child for Medical Care page.

Location: Main hospital, Prince George's County, Shady Grove, Takoma Theatre
Phone: 301-765-5430 (option 4)
Fax: 301-765-5470
Ages served: 4-22 (age 6 and up for ADHD and learning disability questions)

• Services offered: Neuropsychological and diagnostic evaluations for patients with:

• A medical diagnosis/history that impacts cognitive function (genetic disorder, epilepsy, tumor, leukemia, stroke, TBI, CNS infection, hydrocephalus, congenital heart disease, history of prematurity, other endocrine or metabolic disorders).
• Known or suspected neurodevelopmental disorder (attention disorder, learning/processing problems), especially if the referral question or main issues are in relation to cognitive functions (attention, executive functioning, memory, verbal and visual processing, etc.) and when testing is needed for healthcare decision-making. Note that academic/learning disability evaluation is not covered by medical insurance. We can perform this type of testing on a self-pay basis only.
• For autism spectrum disorder diagnostic questions, patients will be seen through the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders rather than the General Neuropsychology Service. Please make sure to let us know if autism is suspected.

• Insurance accepted: (Call for more information. Individual plans may vary in their coverage for this service). Kaiser, GEHA, NCAS, Aetna, PHCS, NCPPO, Cigna, United Behavioral Health, MDIPA, Blue Cross Blue Shield, TRICARE. Virginia: Anthem HealthKeepers Plus. Maryland: Optum BH. D.C.: AmeriHealth and HSCSN. 
• Wait time:

• One - four months for neuropsychological evaluation for children with medical diagnoses
• Six to 12 months for children with neurodevelopmental concerns (e.g., ADHD)

• Information for referral: The parent/guardian must complete an intake form, potentially with the help of the referring provider if needed. Call 301-765-5430 to obtain the form. Along with the completed intake, the family should provide recent prior records if applicable (psychological, educational, speech therapy, school IEP), as well as insurance information.
• How to refer and schedule: Complete intake and send to our department along with recent records (as noted above) in one of the following ways:

• Email to NeuroPsychIntake@childrensnational.org;
• Fax to 301-765-5470; or
• Mail to 15245 Shady Grove Road, Suite 350, Rockville, MD 20850.

A scheduler will contact the family when an appointment is available, which may be several months.