If your child sees or has been seen by Dr. Stephen Camarata...
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Anonymous
| OP here- I realize Stephen is no dev. ped. but he does have a Phd...Anyway, it does sound like Mary is very competent and can make an accurate diagnosis. Thanks for the replies; it's been very helpful! |
Anonymous
Yep. PhD is better (more informed) than just an MD. PhDs spend WAY more time in school (learnin' and researchin') than a MD. MD is like vocational school in comparison. |
Anonymous
This is an asinine statement. An MD receives intensive training in a broad area of physical and mental problems. They take many more classes and receive much more hands on training than a PhD. A PhD has more training in a specialized area and has extensive training in research methodology. If they are in a treatment field, they have treatment training in their field. Most PhD's class requirements can be completed in 4 years. Theos class requirements are much, much lighter than the 4 years of class requirements required of an MD. However, they have to do original research and an MD doesn.t. |
Anonymous
I stand by my statement (you must be a MD). Medical school is vocational training. |
Anonymous
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As someone who has spent a lot of time speaking with Dr. Camarata, and seeing him in a room of other professionals, like school psychologists, speech therapists, etc., I have to say his knowledge level on the subjects of autism, ASDs, language disorders and special education totally swamps anyone else we've encountered. That's where that PH.D. level of expertise is invaluable. Here's one of his bio sheets: http://www.vanderbilt.edu/exploration/text/index.php?action=view_section&id=709&story_id=168&images= Stephen M. Camarata A father of seven, Stephen Camarata's research addresses the needs of children with speech and language disorders, children with autism and children with Down syndrome and other cognitive disabilities. As professor of hearing and speech sciences, director of the research program on communication and learning at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development and director of its Test and Technology Center, he is a nationally renowned researcher on language development and intervention. Much of Camarata's energies are focused on the Child Language Intervention Project (CLIP), which he also directs. CLIP provides individualized treatments for children with a variety of language disorders. The program serves 200 children locally and more than 1,500 children in other states and countries. The National Institutes of Health has designated CLIP as a National Center for the Study of Language Intervention. Camarata received B.A. and M.A. degrees in speech pathology and audiology from San Diego State University, and a Ph.D. in 1984 from Purdue University. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Early Childhood Language Laboratory in the Department of Hearing and Speech Sciences at the University of Arizona. He was a faculty member in Special Education and Communication Disorders at Pennsylvania State University from 1985 to 1988, and was on the faculty of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of California at Santa Barbara from 1988 to 1990. He joined the Vanderbilt Hearing and Speech Sciences faculty in 1990. Camarata teaches graduate courses on how children acquire language, on child language and speech disorders, and research design. Nationally, he is a member of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and chairs the Association's Division on Treatment Efficacy. He also is active in the International Association for the Study of Child Language. |
Anonymous
| To the pp who said she was looking for camarata to be able to tell her once and for all if DC has autism -- im wondering what you are hoping to get out of that definitive answer. I ask bc my DC has a merld/adhd dx, but there are lingering questions about whether its autism -- and im wondering -- if it is, does it matter -- ie what does an autism dx get you (and your child?) And if you get a definitive no, what does that get you? In aother words, why make this trip? |
Anonymous
b/c it might make a difference in terms of school placement and/or in terms of the kind of therapy he receives...Also, I would like to know what the prospects are for the future...And in general, I would like my child to be placed under the care of someone who really knows what he is doing! Right now, I am surrounded by well-meaning people who seem like they have no clue what they are doing... |
Anonymous
| I'm a pp who also went to see them for a definitive diagnosis of autism. Therapy for an ASD and for MERLD can be very different, so it's important that the diagnosis is correct. But you also get a suggested course for therapy, education, etc that is important and that fits your kid. I can't tell you how much I dreaded that trip and how thankful I am that we did it. I left there a different mom - more relaxed, more patient with my kid's progress, more willing to believe that she has a shot for a good future. |
Anonymous
| PPs -- I hear where you are coming from. I have a DC dxed with MERLD and ADHD. I have some outside providers who say this is completely accurate dx, school pushing autism, and me in the middle confused and frustrated by how far behind his language remains, even with all this intervention. I actually think my main language provider is pretty good and im not certain id get anything new and different from camarata, other than more debt on my credit card |
Anonymous
| I'm a pp, and I don't want to sound like a zealot, but you will get something different from them. It's hard to explain. My dd has MERLD and has a fantastic and incredibly talented speech therapist. The Camaratta's have seen so many kids and are always either doing the research or keeping up with the science of communication disorders. I really didn't want to go and spend so much time and money. However, I left with a gut feeling that their evaluation was the most accurate and thorough of all the evals we've put her through and it wasn't all good news! She has serious issues. I just feel like I know my kid better and I know much more about how dd interacts with the world and her challenges, and importantly, her strengths. |
Anonymous
| I believe that is the key the Camaratas have seen many, many, many children and have a lot of experience and they just don't see the child once or twice, they keep in touch, if the family stays in touch they love knowing how the children are doing and the families. It isn't just like getting an evaluation and life goes on, they will answer questions, give guidance, etc.. I have taken my DD to evaluators where it's a one time thing and they write a report and you never hear from that evaluator again, but with the Camaratas there is so much experience between the both of them and their own personal life there is a lot of experience with their own children. I don't think anyone could beat their experience and knowledge they have and the passion they have for helping children. |
Anonymous
| Hi All, we have seen the Camaratas twice almost 10 years ago. They are wonderful! They were 'spot on' with the progression in our sons speech. After their non-verbal testing, they were able to accurately diagnose him. I owe a debt of gratitude to them both. They saved my sanity. |
Anonymous
| They get paid a lot to tell parents what they want to hear ! |
Anonymous
And you base this on what, exactly? Their fees are actually a fraction of what most charge for testing. And their accuracy rate is well over 90 percent. |
Anonymous
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We lived in Germany and our daughter was not talking by age 3 - I got frustrated with the German approach of wait and see. After extensive research, as you
all know, we found at the time - both Steve and Mary Camarata working at the Late Talkers Clinic. From our initial assessment in 2006 - they both were involved. Mary did perform most of the testing = Steve was in/ out - and both sat with us for the evaluation... which was such a joy to hear that my daughter was just... a late talker. No other issues. I know I am a very very lucky mother! However, Mary then spend a few hours with me teaching me how to help support her speech in a very specific type of therapy that worked very very well for us - recasting with appropriate rewards, a few minutes a day. When we moved to the US in 2008, we quickly set up a follow-up appointment in 2009 and did find that Mary was more present in this meeting, however at the time both were there. And as mentioned in another comment, our daughter is 9 now and she is almost at appropriate speech for a 9 year old. I can not say enough about the Camarata's work - and I frankly found Mary and Steve to be interchangeable. |