Autism - Alexandria,VA

Dr. Beverly Powell in springfield.

You have already gotten some great advice. First you need to figure out what you want to get out of most of this. Just so you know my background is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist. I am currently working in a private practice in the Kingstowne (Alexandria/Springfield) area, but prior to being here I worked at a children's hospital in Portland, OR specifically on the Autism Diagnosis team. So, first questions you should ask is do you want a medical diagnosis or a school label. These are two different things, yet sometimes you will get the same results from both. My guess is that if you son is 11 and you are just questioning this then the school might not give him the label because they typically use observation and look at how behavior impacts school. When it comes to a medical diagnosis there are a few options for this too. A child psychologist or a medical doctor can make this diagnosis. Both of these typically use developmental testing, observation of the child & parent report to make a diagnosis. In this area I have heard good things about Dr. Beverly Powell. Personally having worked in this field I think an Autism team gives you the clearest picture because more than one professional is looking at your child. On most clinics it is at least a developmental pediatrician, psychologist & speech language pathologist (occasionally an occupational therapist too). Kennedy Kreiger Institute has an Autism team. The other reason I like these teams is that they typically use the only standardized observation tools used for diagnosing children with autism, where private clinics just use observation and not standardized evaluations. Does that make sense?? Some of the tools are the Autism Diagnostic Observation Scale (ADOS) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview (ADI). Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions! Hope this is helpful.

I would ask your pediatrician for recommendations. Another resource would be your son's guidance counselor or school therapist.

You, his teacher, (or other school professional) needs to write a referral to the Local Sceening Committe at his school. When a referral is written the school must respond by meeting about the referral within 10 days (that is a federally mandated law). Then you need to deal with the process. At the local screening committe meeting be ready to discuss why you think your son had autism.
If you prefer a private (very expensive evaluation) you should contact Kennedy Kreiger institute.

You demand that he is evaluated by his school!!! They have people available to do that AND they should help with setting up an IEP for him - which will allow you to get the services he needs if in fact he does need them.

Dear C.,
I just want to commend you first of all. Sometimes as a mom, its hard to find fault with out children and it is easier to turn the other cheek etc. Here's a website that may help
http://www.fcps.edu/ss/preschool/index.htm
Good Luck.
Pammy