Looking for a developmental pediatrician without a wait willing to pay

[Anonymous]

any recommendations? speech delay possibly ASD 3 year old

Thanks

[Anonymous]

There is a waitlist for any good developmental pediatrician. Get on a bunch of waitlists and tell them to call if there are any cancellations even if you only have a few hours notice.

[Anonymous]

Dr. Belisito at Pediatric Care Center in Bethesda.

[Anonymous]

Get on waitlists, call every week to remind them. I got in the next day due to a cancellation. I called at the right time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dr. Belisito at Pediatric Care Center in Bethesda.

We are scheduled with her -- appointment in May. Yes, there may be a cancellation before that, but you will still wait.

[Anonymous]

OP, could you share a bit about the situation? Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dr. Belisito at Pediatric Care Center in Bethesda.

I know many people have been happy woth her, but we were underwhelmed. She took a history with the child in the room, which limited how open we could be, did not seek any information from teachers (through checklists, etc.) and spent minimal time with our child before making a (wrong) diagnosis.

We ultimately saw a developmental psychologist who had no waiting list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dr. Belisito at Pediatric Care Center in Bethesda.

I know many people have been happy woth her, but we were underwhelmed. She took a history with the child in the room, which limited how open we could be, did not seek any information from teachers (through checklists, etc.) and spent minimal time with our child before making a (wrong) diagnosis.

We ultimately saw a developmental psychologist who had no waiting list.

Courious what was the wrong diagnosis, and what was the right one?

[Anonymous]

You can see a developmental psychologist, e.g.:

http://www.mindwell.us/developmental/

Read the description of evaluating 2-5 year olds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dr. Belisito at Pediatric Care Center in Bethesda.

I know many people have been happy woth her, but we were underwhelmed. She took a history with the child in the room, which limited how open we could be, did not seek any information from teachers (through checklists, etc.) and spent minimal time with our child before making a (wrong) diagnosis.

We ultimately saw a developmental psychologist who had no waiting list.

Our experience was almost exactly the same.

[Anonymous]

Is Dan Shapiro's practice open for 3 year old's? You probably still have to wait. I like Dr Belsito (moved to DC when my kids were too old to start with Shapiro). But I took a class with Shapiro and was incredibly impressed.

[Anonymous]

If you happen to catch Dr. Shapiro when he is open to new patients he will take you quickly. We happened to call when he was taking new patients and got in I think a week or two later. Otherwise, agree with others that you just ask to be called for a cancellation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you happen to catch Dr. Shapiro when he is open to new patients he will take you quickly. We happened to call when he was taking new patients and got in I think a week or two later. Otherwise, agree with others that you just ask to be called for a cancellation.

Ours took about a month after we got in with Shapiro. This was 2 yrs ago. You have to mail him a deposit and fill out forms online. He went to observe our child at school and speak with teachers. There was an appointment where he saw our child at his house where he administered tests ("played" with DS for an hour) and another appointment with only the parents. Shapiro never discusses with the child present.

After all the meetings, he took about a week to send us his report and we had several 1 hr meetings to discuss DS's diagnosis and any issues. He also accompanied us through the IEP process and meetings at DS's school. I credit him with the fact that we never had any school problems and that DS loves school.

[Anonymous]

My child had had appointments at both Childrens in the developmental pediatrics dept and Johns Hopkins. The Hopkins appointment took about 6 weeks to get. We had already been seeing Dr. Gersh at Childrens and decided to get a second opinion. They did a day of thorough testing. It was exhausting. We got a written document, but the resident who did all the tests was leaving in a month, so there was no followup. We did not pursue continuing with Johns Hopkins, but got some information we had not gotten at Childrens for when he was transitioning from ITP to SN preschool. We continue to see Dr. Gersh every 6 months.

So call Johns Hopkins and see what the wait is. I remember having to fill out a lot of stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you happen to catch Dr. Shapiro when he is open to new patients he will take you quickly. We happened to call when he was taking new patients and got in I think a week or two later. Otherwise, agree with others that you just ask to be called for a cancellation.

Ours took about a month after we got in with Shapiro. This was 2 yrs ago. You have to mail him a deposit and fill out forms online. He went to observe our child at school and speak with teachers. There was an appointment where he saw our child at his house where he administered tests ("played" with DS for an hour) and another appointment with only the parents. Shapiro never discusses with the child present.

After all the meetings, he took about a week to send us his report and we had several 1 hr meetings to discuss DS's diagnosis and any issues. He also accompanied us through the IEP process and meetings at DS's school. I credit him with the fact that we never had any school problems and that DS loves school.

Wanted to add that the psychoeducational testing was done by the school so Shapiro only had to fill in the holes. OP, you may want to request an eval by child find. It'll make the process shorter once you see the doctor if you already have the testing results.

Also, if you are concerned about ASD, make an appointment with Children's Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders. They administer ADOS and ADI-R the gold standard for diagnosing or ruling out ASD. If you see a dev ped at Children's they may refer you there anyway. If you make the appointment now, you won't have as long a wait.