The Center for Autism Services, Science and Innovation (CASSITM)
The Center for Autism Services, Science and Innovation (CASSI) houses a multi-faceted program designed to meet the needs of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their families. The program strives to develop effective models of care and disseminate information about best practices to families, care providers, and professionals on a national and international basis.
In two of the four Center programs, staff offer direct clinical services to children with autism and their families. Staff in the clinical program provide developmental assessments, single and interdisciplinary evaluations, treatment consultation, and single and dyadic intervention services. Disciplines include psychiatry, neurology, developmental pediatrics, neuropsychology, speech-language pathology, and occupational therapy.
CASSI’s Achievements Therapeutic Day Program offers individualized treatment in a small group setting for children 2-5 years of age. Treatment focuses on enhancing skills in language, social communication and interaction, and self-regulation. Theme-based teaching nested in familiar routines fosters learning. Through best-practice methods and careful individualization, the team strives to make the classroom not only a place of learning, but also a place where children can form friendships. Staff welcome parent involvement in this innovative program.
Assistive Technology Clinic
At Kennedy Krieger's interdisciplinary Assistive Technology (AT) Clinic, innovative technologies and the expertise of our specialists allow children and adults of all ages to enjoy many of the same activities as their peers. Professionals from speech-language pathology and occupational therapy collaborate to help patients build independence. Patient diagnoses include cerebral palsy, brain injury, spinal cord injury, muscular dystrophy, Down syndrome, autism, Rett syndrome, developmental delay, rare chromosomal anomalies and others.
Assessments address communication, power mobility, computer access, phone or tablet access, reading, writing, mounting, and environmental control unit (ECU) needs. For patients with multiple AT needs, technology is selected to maximize integration and independence such as using the same access method for driving a power chair, accessing a phone, and accessing an AAC device. Treatment-based visits help patients maximize use of equipment and, caregivers are often involved in this training to support implementation across environments. Skills from this experienced team have wide-reaching benefits, as they consult with and train primary treating clinicians across the Institute when technology needs arise.
The AT Clinic maintains a library of AAC systems, tablets, alternative access input methods, mounting systems, ECUs, and AT software support. Skilled staff and up-to-date technology combine to improve quality of life for patients who face enormous accessibility barriers.
Audiology Department
The Audiology Department is in the Outpatient Clinic on the Broadway campus. Audiologists work closely with SLPs at the Institute in outpatient, inpatient, and our school settings.
The Institute’s audiologists are skilled in assessment of children and adults with complex neurodevelopmental and medical conditions, as well as behavioral difficulties. They offer hearing evaluations of newborns, young children, and teens and young adults by using state of the art procedures to provide comprehensive diagnostic evaluations to those at risk for hearing loss. Services also include screening of hearing and middle ear status, sedated and unsedated auditory evoked potential testing and central auditory processing testing. Fitting and dispensing hearing aids and hearing assistive technology is an integral part of the practice. The Department uses objective measures and developmentally appropriate behavioral test procedures to verify that a child is receiving optimal benefit from the hearing aids.
Research completed in the Audiology Department has looked at audiological findings in disorders like osteogenesis imperfecta and adrenomyleoneuropathy, parent recognition of hearing loss in children with Down syndrome, auditory function and the effects of sedation on auditory brainstem in Rett syndrome, and prevalence of hearing loss and ear morbidity in adolescents and young adults in Nepal.
Speech-Language Outpatient Clinics
Outpatient speech-language services at Kennedy Krieger are offered at two locations: the Broadway campus in downtown Baltimore and the Columbia location on the outskirts of Baltimore.
Patients in these program range in age from toddlers to young adults; they come from local neighborhoods, surrounding counties, and even other countries. Some patients receive their first diagnoses here, while others have questions about existing diagnoses or treatment programs or are seeking a second opinion. Most patients have difficulties in other areas of function—many of which affect their communication, feeding, or swallowing skills.
SLPs conduct comprehensive evaluations and provide individual and small group treatment using evidence-based practices focused on maximizing functional and meaningful skills. SLPs in this program are focused on interdisciplinary care and often collaborate with other disciplines to provide a comprehensive plan of care.