Sheppard Pratt hosted a grand opening celebration for The Center for Autism, a new service line located on Sheppard Pratt’s hospital campus in Towson, Maryland. The center offers diagnostic services and subsequent autism case management for individuals throughout their lifespan. The Center for Autism was made possible by a generous grant from the Women’s Hospital Foundation, a Maryland-based charitable organization that provides support to improve health care education and broaden access to health care services.
Sheppard Pratt’s Center for Autism will provide evaluation and treatment for individuals from age 2 through adulthood. This new service adds a key component to the development of a unique and comprehensive continuum of care at Sheppard Pratt for people with autism spectrum disorder.
The Center for Autism connects families of a person with autism with a multidisciplinary team of provider organizations. In addition to early diagnosis, the center will bring together existing Sheppard Pratt services for older children and adults at each stage across their lifespan. Primary care professionals will provide evidence-based therapies to people of all ages to address communication, social interaction, and other symptoms of this lifelong disorder.
The center features separate waiting rooms for pediatric and adult consumers. An additional comfort room allows individuals of any age to regroup if they are feeling overstimulated. It also features four examination rooms for assessments and video monitoring to assist parents and primary care professionals throughout the assessment process.
Sheppard Pratt is the largest provider organization of non-public special education programs in Maryland. It also has neuropsychiatry specialty units providing inpatient care for youth and adults. Sheppard Pratt also provides vocational programs and housing supports for individuals with autism once they reach adulthood. Last year, existing programs served over 1,600 individuals with autism.
This was reported by Sheppard Pratt on December 16, 2021.
Contact information: Tamara Chumley, Director of Public Relations and Communications, Sheppard Pratt, 6501 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21204; 410-938-3157; Email: tchumley@sheppardpratt.org; Website: https://www.sheppardpratt.org/
