Our team helps families navigate their child's visits at our hospital and specialty care locations, collaborating with other health care providers throughout various departments at Children's National.
When you have a child with developmental disabilities, receiving medical care can be a challenging – and sometimes scary – experience for him or her. Your care provider will know how to treat your child’s medical condition, but may not know things like whether your child is a visual learner or if they’re okay with being touched.
Our staff at Children’s National recognized this need and formed the Beyond the Spectrum program to provide medical staff and parents with tools to make tests and treatments easier for your child.
Whether your child is coming to the hospital for a procedure or just having a follow-up appointment, our Beyond the Spectrum program has resources for you to share with your child to prepare them for their care experience. Through videos, teaching stories or role play instructions, your child can learn what to expect at their visit. Learn how you can use these tools (PDF) to help improve your child's experience during medical visits.
You can also view helpful websites for autism spectrum disorders and neuropsychology.
Below, you will find additional tools to build your toolkit for your child's visit. We will continue to update this site as tools are created. If you have suggestions for tools that are needed, please email us.
It can be difficult to explain the COVID-19 pandemic to children. These resources can help visual learners understand what is happening.
Mask Wearing Resources
Review our Wearing a Mask Teaching Story (PDF) with your child to help explain the importance of mask wearing during the pandemic. These videos are also helpful resources on the need to wear a mask and how to wear a mask correctly:
Echocardiogram (ECHO)
Electrocardiogram (EKG)
Dental care visits are with our Dentistry and Oral Health team. View our PDFs below to help your child before their visit.
EEG visits are with our Cardiology team. View our PDFs below to help your child before their visit.
Lab tests are conducted by our Pathology and Laboratory Medicine team. View our PDFs below to help your child before their visit.
Videos:
Radiology exams are conducted by our Diagnostic Imaging and Radiology team.
We're here to help you and your child on their care journey. We're happy to answer your questions and provide you with additional resources. Please call 202-476-2884 for more information.