James L. Dennis Developmental Center

The James L. Dennis Developmental Center is a pediatric clinic affiliated with both the UAMS Department of Pediatrics and the Psychiatric Research Institute (PRI) at UAMS. The clinic specializes in the assessment of developmental conditions that result in delayed milestones, inability to communicate effectively, inattention, hyperactivity, impulsivity, learning problems, and poor or atypical social interactions. Evaluation and therapy are also provided for families coping with the stress of chronic developmental disorders or chronic medical illnesses, and with grief and loss concerns.

The Dennis Developmental Center coordinates the expertise of developmental pediatricians, nurse practitioners, speech therapists, clinical social workers, clinical psychologists, psychological examiners and when indicated, other clinical specialists.

Clinical Diagnostic Assessment and Therapy Services

Developmental Pediatric Clinics — Our medical, diagnostic and therapy evaluation services will be individually selected to address the referral concerns for each patient based on the information provided by the family and the referring physician on the DDC intake forms.

Interdisciplinary Team Assessment — This assessment consists of an extensive evaluation of complex conditions by an interdisciplinary team who will investigate developmental concerns in children from toddlers to 12 years of age, educate parents and generate diagnosis-specific management recommendations.

Autism Spectrum Disorders Clinic — This clinic is for children from infancy to late adolescent years. It provides familiesTherapy room a comprehensive evaluation, medical management and educational strategies for children with suspected or previously diagnosed Autism Disorder, PDD.NOS, and Asperger’s Disorder.

Developmental Medical Clinics — These clinics provide initial and follow-up diagnostic consultation for children who are at risk or experiencing developmental, learning, or non-psychiatric behavior problems from infancy to 12 years of age. Medication consultation is available for children with behavioral or sleep issues related to their developmental disorders.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Clinic — The ADD/ADHD Clinic provides initial assessment and on-going consultation for children whose primary problem is inattention, disorganization, distractibility, disruptive behavior, impulsivity, and hyperactivity.

Developmental Outreach Clinics — The outreach program provides diagnostic assessment, consultations and follow-up for children with a focus on the identification of developmental disabilities in early childhood from infancy to 12 years of age.

Pediatric Psychology Clinics

Feeding Problems — This clinic provides assessment and therapy for children with a wide variety of feeding problems, such as picky eating, poor volume or weaning from tube feedings. This clinic serves children from infancy to 12 years, including children with developmental delays and Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Behavioral Change and Emotional Support for Overweight Youth — This clinic assists children and families in coping with being overweight and with making changes that are being recommended medically. It provides a short-term intervention focused on instigating behavioral changes and improving long-term adjustment.

Coping with Chronic Illness — Supportive and behavioral counseling is available for children who have a chronic DDC Testing Roomillness such as Type I or Type II diabetes, cystic fibrosis or cancer.

Parenting and Behavior Management — This clinic is designed to help parents with children who are significantly oppositional and noncompliant with their parents. Children must be between 2 to 5 years of age; must not have a history of hospitalization for emotional or behavioral problems, not have an Autism Spectrum Disorder, and who have not had an injury to self or others.

Social Behavior — This clinic offers cognitive behavioral therapy designed to decrease anxiety and improve social skill challenges associated with developmental and behavioral disorders such as Asperger’s Disorder.

Bereavement and Loss — This clinic helps young children learn skills for coping when they have experienced a significant family death or loss resulting in the new onset of emotional problems.

Gastrointestinal Elimination Disorders — This clinic helps children and teenagers with psychological aspects of coping with and management of abdominal pain, cystic fibrosis, colitis, encopresis, enuresis.

Diagnostic Evaluation Services

Speech and Language Assessment — Speech and language assessments consist of an evaluation of a variety of speech and language disorders including receptive/expressive language disorder, pragmatic/social language disorder, delayed language, articulation disorder, phonological disorder, and childhood apraxia of speech in children 12 years old and younger.

Psychological Assessment — Psychological assessments use instruments to assist in measuring a child’s ability in a variety of domains including intellectual, academic, developmental, emotional, personality and adaptive behavior. These measures help determine a child’s strengths as well as areas that may need improvement as compared to same-aged peers. This information helps clinicians to provide appropriate recommendations for school interventions, therapy and related community services for children 12 years old and younger.

Pediatric Neuropsychological Evaluations — A neuropsychological evaluation includes the above mentioned psychological evaluation measures as well as other sophisticated tests to help pinpoint more subtle areas of concern in a child’s psychological profile. These measures may include areas of memory, mental processing, fine motor skills and executive functioning. Neuropsychological testing evaluates brain-behavior relationships and how they impact a child’s performance. Neuropsychological testing is conducted with children who are 6 years of age through late teen years.

Learning Disability Testing — Learning disability testing offers assessments to determine specific learning disabilities and helps provide documentation for families to get appropriate services in their community for children in elementary and middle school from 6 to 12 years of age.

At the James L. Dennis Developmental Center, our intake process consists of one intake form and an insurance referral.

The intake form was designed to be completed by the patient’s parent/guardian with the referring physician. These important intake forms assist our clinic in appropriately scheduling services to address clinical concerns and focus on the family’s goals for their child.

Once the intake form, parent form and insurance referral are received, our triage team can review the request and assign an appointment type. At this point, the child is placed on the Dennis Developmental Center’s waitlist until an appointment slot for the designated appointment type becomes available. Our scheduling staff will notify the parents of the appointment date and time by mailing an appointment letter along with an appointment packet. The appointment packet contains forms for both the parent/guardian and the school/caregiver to fill out. These forms must be brought to the appointment and not mailed or faxed to the Dennis Developmental Center.

Briefly, the intake request process and the associated timelines are as follows:

• When intake forms are received at the Dennis Developmental Center, the primary care provider or referring physician’s office will receive a return fax within 72 hours acknowledging that we have received the form. If you do not receive this faxed response, please call 501-364-4019. A parent form will be mailed within seven days of receipt.
• Once the parent form is received, the Dennis Developmental Center triage team will review all intakes to determine the needs and assign an appointment type or refer to another clinic. When intake forms are received at the Dennis Developmental Center, the primary care provider or referring physician’s office will receive a return fax within 24 hours (or the next business day), acknowledging that we have received the form. If you do not receive this faxed response, please call 501-364-2639.
• The child is then placed on the Dennis Developmental Center waitlist until an appointment slot becomes available. The Dennis Developmental Center does not give out specific wait times. The Dennis Developmental Center is booked out six months at all times. Each case is different and appointments are scheduled according to the needs of each child.

Documents

• New Patient Referral Form
• How to Request an Educational Evaluation Through Your School District

What to Bring to Your Appointment

• Parent and teacher forms Completed
• Completed consent to treat
• Any prior testing
• Snacks

What to Expect at Your Appointment

• Give your child all their medicine on the day of the appointment
• Make sure your child eats breakfast
• Bring any prior testing your child has had
• If possible, do not bring any other children with you
• Arrive 15 minutes early with your information packet completed (Do not mail or fax this packet ahead of time.)
• Appointment times vary. It is not unusual for an appointment to last all day. Be prepared to either bring a lunch or go out for lunch.
• Be prepared to spend all day with your child. We need your input too. The person accompanying the child must be the legal guardian unless prior approval has been given in writing.
• Make sure your child gets a good night’s sleep the night before their appointment.
• If your child is ill (has fever, vomiting, or diarrhea) do not bring them to their appointment. Please call and reschedule.