[newmothermary]

<span><b>Anyone?</b></span><br><span style="color:#C0C0C0;"><b>Thanks, Mary</b></span><img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/duck.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Duck">:

 

[crl]

Not an expert here. Their training is different. A developmental ped has an MD so all the basic medical school training, plus the developmental ped specialty.<br><br>
In our experinence, the developmental ped took more of whole look at our kid. He noted some physical stuff that the neuropsych did not. If you are looking at a broad range of possibilities related to a kid's developmental delays, personally I'd be much more inclined to look for a developmental ped. If you are really focused on autism, etc, I would be more inclined to look for whoever is good regardless of training.<br><br>
But, I am undoubtedly very biased by our experience with a UA violation of a neurophysch.

 

[wytchywoman]

I agree with crl, I felt the dev. ped. was more thorough and looked at the entire picture. She was concerned though, about a tremor in his hands and actually sent us back to our neuro to get it checked out. Neuro's deal with a very small range of issues, they are specialists. Dev peds deal with a broad range of issues but are not specialists in any one thing other than developmental disorders. Make sense?<br><br>
Namaste,<br><br>
Michelle

 

[cchrissyy]

we're using both.<br><br>
a neuropscyhologist isn't an MD, but if you've alreayd epxlored the other physical and developmental factors, and you're tyring to sort out the neurological and psychological angle like we were were, it's exactly who you need!<br>
Our main question when we got to her wasn't "does he have a problem" or "is it autism" but really, "which type of ASD" and "is there an anxiety disorder and OCD on top of it?" And we needed her to do a supeor thurough report to get better service at school.<br><br>
Nonetheless, we're seeing a DAN! Dr, a dev ped, and a neurologist (with MRI) next month. diferent angles for everybody I guess <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile">

 

[Anna V]

I'm in Australia where it is set up differently. I don't know of anyone who sees a neurologist as their primary specialist carer for their autistic kids. We see a developmental paed who looks at all the issues and he refers us to a neurologist or a neuropsychologist for specialist assessment as warranted. TBH both my kids have had MRIs and EEGs and even then we never saw the neurologists in person, they just sent the reports through to the dev paed. The neuropsychologist was very good for a thorough written report but she didn't do ongoing care.

 

[rag & bone gal]

Yep - a dev. ped. looks at the whole picture. Also, they'll spend a lot more time on your appointment than a neuro - and if they're as good as ours, they'll interlace their recommendations (making sure hip films are taken to see if his bones are in the pelvis, recommending spasticity/dystonia options for the future, etc) with making sure that mom is also getting the care that she deserves. Ours spoke to me with a great deal of humanity, similar to the neonatologist that we once saw. She also gave her opinion of his diagnosis, which differed from the neuro, and informed me more clearly of statistics of traditional HIE (hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy - lack of oxygen at-term brain injury), which also differed from our neuro. All in all, she was a great resource and I'm pleased to have a dev. ped on our team.

 

[Individuation]

A developmental pediatrician is specifically a pediatrician who works with kids with spectrum issues. As an adult, I suppose the equivalent of a developmental-ped would be a developmental internist or developmental GP? But then, as an adult, they tend not to call spectrum issues "developmental" anymore, and refer to them as neurological. Hence the confusion.<br><br>
A neurologist is a brain doctor who may or may not know anything about spectrum issues. My main neurologist knows NOTHING about autism (I see him for multiple sclerosis) and finds me very interesting but baffling. I also see a neuro-psychiatrist on rare occasions for issues related to autism.

 

[Anna V]

Developmental paeds work with kids with developmental issues -- while they see a lot of spectrum kids, they do not solely train as doctors for kids with autistic spectrum disorders.

 

[rag & bone gal]

Right, Anna. They deal with any child with development issues, which are not only spectrum (or behavioral specialties, for that matter) kids, but also kids with neurological damage or medical issues like cerebral palsy.

 

[Individuation]

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<div>Originally Posted by <strong>rag & bone gal</strong> <a href="/community/forum/post/7998241"><img alt="View Post" class="inlineimg" src="/community/img/forum/go_quote.gif" style="border:0px solid;"></a></div>
<div style="font-style:italic;">Right, Anna. They deal with any child with development issues, which are not only spectrum (or behavioral specialties, for that matter) kids, but also kids with neurological damage or medical issues like cerebral palsy.</div>
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I actually wasn't aware of that---thank you.<br><br>
So CP and other such issues are referred to as "developmental disabilities," at least as far as pediatrics are concerned?

 

[Anna V]

As far as I know a kid who simply had CP would not necessarily be under the care of a dev paed but a kid who had associated intellectual impairment could be.

 

[Literate]

Does anyone have thoughts about which type of doctor would be better for getting an apraxia diagnosis? I think dd has oral and limb apraxia.

 

[rag & bone gal]

A dev. ped will deal with CP babies whether or not their cognitive abilities are affected, but I have no idea about older kids. There are so many facets, complexities, and preventions for a baby with CP that it's extremely useful to have someone who understands them all to play watchdog - the dev. ped keeps track of neuro, GI, nutrition, PT, OT, ST, and anything else your baby may need, and makes sure you get the appropriate ultrasounds, X-rays, services, et al. No normal pediatrician I've ever met understands all that.<br><br>
Also, I've heard my son (who has CP) referred to as either "developmentally delayed," "disabled," or "medically fragile." The last term is the weirdest, and I can't figure out if it's some strange attempt at political correctness or what, but I can't completely wrap my mind around its logic. Mostly, I've heard CP kids called developmentally delayed. Seems to me that they need a better term, though - <i>delayed</i> doesn't quite encompass those peculiar movements associated with hypo/hypertonia or spasticity that make any normal "your child should be doing <span style="text-decoration:underline;">x</span> at <span style="text-decoration:underline;">y</span> age" chart fairly irrelevant - especially when you see the difference between that normal child's movements and the CP child's, even when they are performing the same task.<br><br>
One of a dev. ped.'s jobs is to diagnose - so you could go there or to a neuro. I believe that our dev. ped took a more comprehensive look at my son than the neuros and came up with a more appropriate diagnosis.