Please Help Recommend Developmental Pediatrician at KKI

[Anonymous]

We have Kaiser for our insurance and can only be referred to KKI/Hopkins for outside referral for developmental pediatrician. DS is 4 years old and have had sensory (tactile) problems when he was under 2. We had some intervention therapy with some improvements. His preK teacher has mentioned to us that she thinks he has some sensory/attention issues. I find that he forgets directions given to him, and is not necessarily being defiant intentionally. We are worried and would like to obtain a formal evaluation by a developmental pediatrician.

Is there a developmental pediatrician you would recommend at KKI, or do you think we should just look outside of KKI (and just pay out of pocket)?

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

With KKI you do not see a developmental ped UNLESS you walk in with a diagnosis. If not, your visit will be with a nurse practioner who works with the devel ped. You call up to get an appt and they do the entire intake process over the phone and schedule you (it could take a few months to see someone there). I am going to assume that depending on the severity of the issues at hand, your child will either continue to see the nurse practitioner, as mine did, or be allowed to see the developmental pediatrician. FWIW, we left KKI b/c I was not comfortable seeing JUST the nurse practitioner. She prescribed meds etc... and I really wanted to see the actual developmental ped. We found a new developmental ped, not a part of KKI or Children's, who takes our insurance and have been very happy.

[Anonymous]

We had a very different experience than 21:14. We got a referral to KKI from Kaiser for our then 4 year old.

We did not already have a diagnosis.

We did the intake process over the phone and got a call back a few weeks later to schedule an appointment with a developmental pediatrician. We saw Dr. Anna Wilms-Floet and were happy with her. She works in the Center for Development and Learning and in both the Center for Autism and Related Disorders.

[Anonymous]

21:14 again. Maybe it depends on the possible diagnosis as well. My DS has ADHD with sensory issues.

[Anonymous]

We were originally scheduled to be seen by a nurse practioner at KKI but when we had to reschedule the appt I simply asked to be scheduled with a developmental pediatrician. We did not have a known diagnosis, although our country school system had evaluated our child and noted general developmental and speech delays. We ultimately saw Dr. Anna Wilms-Floet as well and were very pleased with the experience.

[Anonymous]

Oops, meant to say our "county" school system....

[Anonymous]

We do NOT recommend Dr. Rubinstein. He may be a very smart man, but absolute worst bedside manner. Never explained what he was doing, and failed to review one component of my son's bloodwork - just passed on the message (after multiple calls) that all was ok. Found out years later that he never even got one of the reports back.

[Anonymous]

Instead of seeking an appointment with a developmental pediatrician, which seems to have been a problem for some people, ask for an appointment for a neuropsych evaluation.

[Anonymous]

Is that something you can just ask for? What would be the difference in the evaluation process? Sorry if this is a silly question, pretty new to this, especially understanding all the different specialists. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

We needed to see a dev ped to get a report recommending a neuropsych evaluation before we could get insurance coverage for that long more complicated evaluation.

From OP's original post it sounds like starting with an informal assessment with a dev ped might be more useful that jumping to a neuropsych eval, which can cost $3000-4000 and involves your young child spending hours with a psychologist answering questions. It can provide really useful information, but I think it makes sense to talk to a dev ped or a psychologist familiar with your child about what you might get from it ahead of time.