Stephen Camarata at Vanderbuilt

[Anonymous]

Can somebody tell me, Is it only one day appointment or how many days do we have stay there? and how long will it take to get an appointment?
Any recent luck with any dcurbanmom posters to get an appointment or get in contact with them?
Do they just do evaluation or give a treatment plan? Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Stephen no longer does evals. Only his wife Mary does and she is a SLP. Her eval takes about half a day, depends on the age of the child.

[Anonymous]

he actually does still. I just seen him and Jennifer Vick yesterday. I was originally told my son had moderate to severe autism 1-1.5 years ago by a very unprofessional pediatrician and Camarata said he was very hyperactive and would grow out of it with therapy eventually. He gave me specific reasons why my son acts the way he does.. basically, its just like a previous poster said " what Camarata an Vick say is worth its weight in gold" if you havent seen him or Jennifer Vick GO NOW!!

[Anonymous]

This is good to know, 22:33. I just heard from two friends in the past couple weeks whose children were given an autism diagnosis that Dr. Camarata overturned. Turns out these kids had MERLD and/or learning disorders instead. One was also given a very dire educational outlook, and his parents were told he would never be on grade level. These kids are doing great now in mid-elementary. The one with a dire diagnosis got a 95 percent on his standardized academic testing!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:he actually does still. I just seen him and Jennifer Vick yesterday. I was originally told my son had moderate to severe autism 1-1.5 years ago by a very unprofessional pediatrician and Camarata said he was very hyperactive and would grow out of it with therapy eventually. He gave me specific reasons why my son acts the way he does.. basically, its just like a previous poster said " what Camarata an Vick say is worth its weight in gold" if you havent seen him or Jennifer Vick GO NOW!!

My assumption would be that you saw Dr. Camarata through Vanderbilt, not through the Late Talkers Foundation. I don't believe he is at the foundation regularly these days.

His wife, Mary, runs the foundation and is an excellent SLP and evaluator herself, we found her evaluation was well worth the trip. She often consults with her husband as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

This is good to know, 22:33. I just heard from two friends in the past couple weeks whose children were given an autism diagnosis that Dr. Camarata overturned. Turns out these kids had MERLD and/or learning disorders instead. One was also given a very dire educational outlook, and his parents were told he would never be on grade level. These kids are doing great now in mid-elementary. The one with a dire diagnosis got a 95 percent on his standardized academic testing!

I'm a little confused-I was under the impression he has a Phd, not a medical degree of any kind. How can he diagnose children with anything? We've been hearing great things about him & his wife but I'm a little leery of professionals diagnosing beyond their expertise (which is already a problem we encountered). Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

This is good to know, 22:33. I just heard from two friends in the past couple weeks whose children were given an autism diagnosis that Dr. Camarata overturned. Turns out these kids had MERLD and/or learning disorders instead. One was also given a very dire educational outlook, and his parents were told he would never be on grade level. These kids are doing great now in mid-elementary. The one with a dire diagnosis got a 95 percent on his standardized academic testing!

I'm a little confused-I was under the impression he has a Phd, not a medical degree of any kind. How can he diagnose children with anything? We've been hearing great things about him & his wife but I'm a little leery of professionals diagnosing beyond their expertise (which is already a problem we encountered). Thanks!

That's a good question. His PhD is in audio and speech science:
http://vkc.mc.vanderbilt.edu/assets/files/people/Camarata_bio_0810.pdf

So he doesn't sound qualified to diagnose anything other than speech/language disorders.

[Anonymous]

He's also a special education professor, and trained on the ADOS and other autism assessment tools. He is trained to diagnose autism, but wouldn't diagnose a medical issue -- although would encourage you to ask get a medical opinion.

A lot of his major research studies deal with autism. He spends a lot of his days working directly with children with autism. He's also the former chair and member of the National Institute of Health study section on Psychopathology and Developmental Delays in Children.



He's also been recognized by autism speaks.
https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2014/12/18/autism-speaks-lauds-camarata-contributions/