Developmental and Behavioral Services, Mat-Su Valley, Alaska
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) diagnostic evaluations
A Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) evaluation can provide direction and support to a family. FASDs last a lifetime, but early intervention services can greatly improve a child’s development. Our FASD diagnostic team is comprised of professionals trained in FASD-informed care including a Parent Navigator, Speech and Language Pathologist, Pediatrician, and a Psychologist. Our comprehensive team based approach will include specialty assessments as well as review of birth, developmental, growth, school/IEP, mental health, and specialty medical care records. Families will leave an FASD evaluation with individualized referrals and recommendations.
Autism evaluations
Autism can look very different in each child. An autism evaluation will help provide families with recommendations and referrals for community–based services and give diagnostic clarity to the child’s support system. Children’s unique medical, behavioral and educational needs, along with questionnaires filled out by the family, are all intricate pieces of an autism evaluation. The gold standard of autism evaluation is an interactive behavioral observation of social and communicative behavior and play which is necessary for the accurate diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders. This ADOS-2 will be included in each autism evaluation.
Psychological and Neuropsychological Evaluations
Children are referred by a doctor, school psychologist, or other professional because of one or more problems, such as...
• Difficulty in learning, attention, behavior, socialization, or emotional control;
• A disease or inborn developmental problem that affects the brain in some way; or
• A brain injury from an accident, birth trauma, or other physical stress.A neuropsychological evaluation assists in better understanding a child’s functioning in areas such as memory, attention, perception, coordination, language, and personality. This information will help the child's family, teacher, therapists, and physician to provide treatments and interventions for the child that will meet his or her unique needs.
Psychiatric Evaluations
A psychiatric evaluation is a comprehensive and detailed assessment to diagnose emotional, behavioral or developmental disorders based on current behaviors and/or symptoms a child is experiencing. The evaluation includes an assessment of various possible causes that may be contributing to these behaviors/symptoms such as social, environmental, and physical factors.