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) 

• Insurance accepted: AmeriHealth, HSCSN, Amerigroup, Trusted, FFS, VA INTotal, Anthem Health Keepers, MD Medicaid; all private insurance except Cigna and Blue Choice
• Wait time: Two - three months, but can be fast tracked as needed
• 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: Child Development is also listed under the heading of Developmental Psychology, which is separate from Developmental Pediatrics.

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

• Services offered:

• Evaluation for global developmental delay (children under 6 years of age) — medical evaluation, developmental assessment
• ADHD evaluation and treatment
• Academic underachievement evaluation
• Disruptive behavior disorders evaluation
• Intellectual disability evaluation
• Screening tests for autism
• Evaluation for speech language delay

Note: For all these evaluations, we generally do screening tests — we do not do IQ testing. Our screening tools vary and they are helpful for cognitive problems, mental problems and autism.

• Insurance accepted: AmeriHealth, HSCSN, Amerigroup, Trusted and FFS. All insurance options under the Children's National umbrella are also accepted.
• Wait time: Three - six months
• 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: Call the direct line at 202-476-5764 or contact the clinic directly. Sheikh Zayed: 202-476-3508; Annapolis Outpatient Center: 410-266-6582; Friendship Heights: 202-895-3860; Howard County: 301-847-2900; Laurel: 240-568-7000; Rockville Outpatient Center: 301-765-5400.

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
    • Psychiatric treatment
  • 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 and INTotal Health. Maryland: Value Options. D.C.: AmeriHealth and HSCSN.
• Wait time:
  •  Assessments
    • Diagnostic assessments ~ 6 months
    • Neuropsychological assessments ~18-24 months
    • Developmental assessments ~ 9 months
    • Preschool assessments ~ 9 months
  • 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.

Location: Main hospital, First floor Neuroscience
Phone: 202-476-5764
Fax: 202-476-4336
Ages served: 3-14

• Services offered: Autism diagnostic evaluation and consultation with developmental pediatric and Speech; Occupational therapy consultation is available within two weeks of request.
• Insurance accepted: All children accepted regardless of insurance. Clinic is intended to meet the needs of kids who cannot be seen CASD or Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics.
• Wait time: Two - three months
• Information for referral: To refer, the following criteria must be met: 

• No previous diagnosis of autism (this excludes an educational diagnosis)
• Referral by any provider internal or external (no self-referrals)
• Patient should have D.C. Medicaid

• How to refer and schedule: Intake can be completed by calling 202-476-5764 or emailing DevPeds@childrensnational.org.
• Additional information: This is only for the D.C. Autism Evaluation clinic. Patients needing to be seen for an autism evaluation that do not meet the criteria can be seen in our general Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics clinics.

Location: Main hospital, 4 Main, Room 4441
Phone: 202-476-2884
Fax: 202-476-3393
Ages served: 0-22

• Services offered: The Autism Behavioral Communication (ABC) service provides inpatient consultation as well as telephone, clinic or telemedicine appointments to assess the need for accommodations for medical patients with autism spectrum disorder or related special developmental needs. Appropriate referrals include patients who pose a high risk to self or others in a medical setting or have behavioral/communication barriers that would interfere with their ability to obtain medical care. Referrals are made by a physician or care team for children have difficulty receiving care safely. Example: Non-speaking child with autism who has Crohn’s disease and needs a radiology study.

• Insurance accepted: All patients seen regardless of ability to pay.
• Wait time: None     
• Information for referral: Reason for referral, insurance, referring provider, IEP, psychoeducational testing/reports and updated parent phone/email.
• How to refer and schedule:

• Providers place a Consult ABC Team order through Cerner and email the team to refer a patient. The ABC consult team will then reach out to the family and provider.
• If unsure whether referral is appropriate, please email the team.

• 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
Fax: 301-765-5470
Ages served: 3-22 (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 health care 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 and Intotal Health. Maryland: Value Options. 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.