CLEAR Child Psychology team members spent the day with Developmental Pediatrician Karen Landmeier in Fort Collins CO. Karen’s work as a pediatrician is unique because she evaluates children for autism rather than referring them out to clinics with long waitlists.
CLEAR also spent a day with Pediatrician Nancy Greer and colleagues. Their practice is unique because as a typical pediatric practice they do screen for mental health challenges and autism. Nancy believes that these screenings and referrals are crucial for her patients and part of her job as a pediatrician. She takes extra time with patients to be sure she covers the area of mental health in well-child visits.
Some pediatricians across the country find that they need to be the clinicians diagnosing autism in their patients because diagnostic services are scarce in many areas, waitlists can be long, and referral processes can be arduous.
Across the country, only 42% of primary care providers do any autism screening, and sometimes these doctors implement a “wait and see” model even when red flags are present.
Medical doctors do not always feel trained to understand or diagnose autism, which is understandable given the minimal training doctors typically are able to access.
Still, we have a crisis in our communities related to the under-identification of autism.
When services are provided early and at the right dose, children can recover.
CLEAR is connecting with providers in various fields who care about autism because we want to understand this problem.
We want to offer a solution.
We are so appreciative of the opportunity to visit and interview a wide array of medical professionals including these amazing leaders in pediatrics.
