Consultation Services

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Comprehensive Diagnostic Evaluation for children suspected of having an autism spectrum disorder (or pervasive developmental disorder) or developmental delays. Please click here for information about this service.

School Observation/Program Evaluation:
  • Dr. Johnson will meet with you and your child to discuss and assess your child’s progress, current functioning and needs (e.g., behavior challenges, anxiety, play skills), review relevant records, and perform a school or program observation. Through this process, you will be provided a summary of the findings and a list of recommendations/strategies for your child’s IEP/treatment goals and/or classroom environment to maximize his/her growth.

  • A behavior plan to address a variety of concerns (e.g., anxiety, social skills, listening/attending, on-task behavior, transitions, inappropriate behavior, repetitive behavior, etc.) can be created to be implemented in your child's classroom and monitored by Dr. Johnson. Your child's staff can also be supervised on the delivery of the behavior plan with school permission.

  • Results may be communicated to your child’s teacher or IEP team and classroom teacher when arranged by the parents and school via a phone conversation or attendance at one staff or IEP meeting. This is a valuable service for children at any level of functioning, including those who are mainstreamed, to ensure that your child’s current learning environment is challenging them appropriately and meeting his/her individualized needs.

IEP Meeting Attendance:
  • Dr. Johnson can regularly attend your IEP meetings with you to communicate results of an evaluation and assist you and the IEP team in developing appropriate IEP goals and classroom strategies for your child. This on-going attendance can be very helpful for parents who are finding it challenging to communicate their concerns or ideas about goals to their IEP team.

Annual Re-Evaluation for Children Diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder:
  • Best practice guidelines suggest that children with autism spectrum disorders have regular (e.g., annual or at times of any important transition such as placement or grade changes) re-evaluations of their functioning (including cognitive and adaptive performance).

  • These re-evaluations will serve as a method to: track your child’s progress from the time of diagnosis and from their previous evaluation, ensure that your child is participating well in current programs and environments, and determine whether your child is appropriately challenged by the curriculum and interventions in place.
  • Dr. Johnson will assess your child’s functioning in the areas of:
    • Social skills
    • Communication
    • Cognitive abilities
    • Adaptation to his/her environments (e.g., school, community, etc)
  • A re-evaluation may include an observation of your child in the classroom and recess environments in order to inform the treatment program, classroom teacher’s strategies for instruction, and/or IEP goals.

Training for Mental Health Professionals:

  • Training on the diagnosis and evaluation of autism spectrum disorders for individual practitioners and organizations is available.
  • Dr. Johnson is also pleased to provide education to a variety of groups (e.g., schools, autism support groups, professionals, parents) on a variety of topics such as childhood anxiety, parenting skills, social skills and autism spectrum disorders.
 
Research Studies:

  • Dr. Johnson welcomes the opportunity to be a consultant on research studies that further our understanding of autism spectrum disorders.
  • Dr. Johnson has extensive training in the administration of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R). Dr. Johnson demonstrated reliability, under the supervision of Dr. Pegeen Cronin, on the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised and on all four modules of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule while working on research studies through the CART at UCLA. Upon request, Dr. Johnson can provide documentation of her training and reliability on these measures.
  • Please contact Dr. Johnson about availability and rates for administration of the ADI-R and ADOS for your research study.