Care Coordination Team

Treating autism can be complex. Often children with autism will need to see a sleep specialist, a geneticist, a neurologist, a GI specialist, or even a nutritionist.

Children with autism usually see a speech and language therapist and some see occupational and/or physical therapists.  Most children with autism have behavioral intervention services and many have medication concerns.  A Care Coordinator can assist families in linking to and between these types of services.

The Care Coordination team will review recommendations and reports with you as needed.  Most importantly, you will have the opportunity to discuss how to put this list of recommendations into action. The care coordination at Nationwide Children's is here to help you ensure your child has options and opportunities for success by:

  • Gaining understanding of needed services and recommendations

  • Exploring strategies for accessing treatment services

  • Generating solutions for minimizing obstacles to treatment

  • Identifying and managing family and sibling issues affecting your child's care

  • Practicing information finding skills to identify available resources for your child

  • Develop ways to increase communication between all your child's doctors and therapists

Care Coordinators are licensed Social Workers and Child and Family Therapists well versed in working with families and children with autism spectrum disorder and/or developmental delay.

The goal of Care Coordination is to provide families with comprehensive, accessible, ongoing Family Centered Care. Our dedicated Care Coordination team supports families in assessing recommendations and designing next steps for children diagnosed with autism. We practice “Whole Care for the Whole Child”.

Care Coordinators are located at the Child Development Center at 187 West Schrock Road, Westerville, Ohio.  For more information about our coordinators, please email us.

Family Centered Care

At Autism Care Network centers, parents experience a welcoming environment focused on family well-being.  In addition to maintaining the highest standard of medical care, the Network experts carry out innovative research to develop more effective treatment standards for the wider community.

The Network offers families ongoing care from doctors experienced in treating autism and associated disorders. Clinical teams work together to provide comprehensive, coordinated care for patients and their families. Depending on their needs, patients can see:

  • Pediatricians

  • Child psychiatrists

  • Neurologists

  • Psychologists

  • Specialists in gastrointestinal, metabolic and sleep disorders

Network centers can also offer or coordinate access to speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, nutritional counseling and other specialty services. The Autism Care Network is committed to developing standards and guidelines for evaluating and treating physical conditions associated with autism, and to sharing these standards with a wide variety of other clinical programs.

Autism Care Network's Impact on Clinicians

In addition to caring for patients, the Network's clinicians are continually updating their skills and staying abreast of the latest advances in our understanding and treatment of autism and its associated medical conditions. They are also actively engaged in the important work of sharing this knowledge with other health care professionals and the wider community.