South Miami Hospital: Child Development Center 

South Miami Hospital's Child Development Center provides diagnostic and early intervention services to help children achieve their full capabilities in all areas of development.

The Center is located at 5975 Sunset Drive, Suite 100, South Miami.

Since 1993, the Child Development Center has provided comprehensive services to children and families. Our program is well-recognized throughout the community for having the highest standard of quality and expertise in pediatric developmental assessment, intervention and care.

The Child Development Center offers an interdisciplinary approach, providing a full array of services needed to evaluate children as they grow and develop. Our team of specialists cover such fields as audiology, developmental pediatrics, nursing, occupational and physical therapy, psychology, speech/ language pathology and social work.

In cooperation with your child's physician, we refer to specialists in genetics, neurology, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, orthopedics, psychiatry, otolaryngology and other medical specialties as needed.

Should my child be evaluated?
The purpose of early assessment is to identify potential problems, which may require intervention in the form of therapy services, cognitive stimulation, parent education or augmentative devices such as hearing aids. Although there are many reasons why infants and children are referred to the center, often it is because of one of the following reasons:

• Emerging Problems of Newborns
  When infants are not exhibiting age-appropriate skills, such as visually "tracking" an object or person, making baby sounds or moving with ease, they should be evaluated as early as possible. For babies born with low birth weight or other complications, assessments may be needed, with follow-up care continuing as appropriate.
• Children with Disabilities
  Children with birth defects, genetic problems, chromosomal abnormalities, or children with conditions and diseases such as cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy need early assessment and intervention.
• Pre-school Developmental Problems
  Toddlers should be evaluated if they appear to lag behind in activities such as walking or talking or who have problems with sleeping, feeding and other daily activities.
• School-age Performance Problems
  Some childhood problems become apparent when a child encounters the challenges of the classroom. Teachers often recommend assessment when the achievement or behavior of the child does not keep pace with peers.

A team approach to child development
We offer a unified interdisciplinary approach providing the full array of screening, evaluation and therapy services. Developmental problems can take many different forms. Since developmental problems are interrelated, it takes an interdisciplinary team to provide assessments. The developmental pediatrician and the clinical nurse coordinator provide a clinical assessment of each child. Parents are interviewed for their child's medical history. An assessment of the child's physical and psychosocial status is included. The developmental pediatrician and the nurse help coordinate your child's care at the Child Development Center. Our team also includes the following specialists:

• Audiology
  An audiologist uses state-of-the-art equipment to identify children with hearing impairments. Special hearing tests, such as measuring auditory brain stem response potentials, allow the audiologist to evaluate newborns and difficult-to-test patients. Other tests are used to identify auditory learning/processing problems. The audiologist also selects and fits hearing aids and auditory trainers.
• Occupational Therapy
  An occupational therapist provides evaluation and treatment using functional activities for infants and children with developmental difficulties and other related problems. The initial evaluation includes an assessment of fine motor skills, perceptual motor skills, sensory and cognitive skills, home-school skills, self care, play and leisure skills.
• Physical Therapy
  A physical therapist conducts evaluations and treats children with movement disorders caused by neurological injuries, birth defects and musculoskeletal injuries. Gross motor skills such as rolling, sitting, walking and jumping are emphasized, together with balance and coordination skills. Children may be referred if they demonstrate delays in motor milestones, poor quality of movement or musculoskeletal problems.
• Psychology
  A psychologist conducts developmental, psychoeducational and psychological evaluations of children to identify problems that may interfere with development. Children are often referred because they are not doing well in school or the family is concerned about difficulties with memory and attention, which may interfere with their child's achievement.
• Social Work
  A social worker assesses the psychosocial status of the family and helps families contact community resources and government agencies that can assist them in coping with the challenges of providing for a child with special needs. Referrals are made to agencies and to practitioners who can provide individual, family and group counseling to better equip parents to handle the stress that often comes with caring for a child with special needs.
• Speech/Language Pathology
  A speech/language pathologist assesses and treats communication and cognitive disorders associated with hearing impairment, autism, Attention Deficit Disorder, Attention Deficit with Hyperactivity Disorder, auditory processing disorders, cleft lip and palate, cerebral palsy, articulation/phonological and language disorders, and others. Our speech/language pathologists also have specialty skills in the assessment and treatment of oral-motor and feeding disorders. Videofluoroscopic swallowing studies are available. The department has bilingual (Spanish/English) and sign language capabilities to evaluate language disorders.

How does the evaluation process work?
The nature of the evaluation depends upon the referral question and the age of the child. Children are assessed based on their developmental age, ranging from infants of less than six months old to children and adolescents through age 17.

Once an evaluation has been scheduled, children are assessed by members of our staff. We also talk to parents to get more information about family history and a clear understanding of their concerns. After the assessment is complete, the family is provided with a report that contains the team's recommendations. An individualized treatment plan is developed based on those recommendations. Parents and caregivers actively participate in the decision-making about their child in order to provide the optimal environment for their child's health and cognitive, social and emotional development.

Other services available at the Child Development Center: