What should I expect for tomorrow's appt?

Carolina_in_my_mind

Tomorrow is our first appointment with the developmental pediatrician.  Based on your experiences, what should we expect?  I'm thinking that it will be an introductory meeting where we go over the questionnaire (a behavioral/medical history form that they sent via email) and possibly begin to evaluate DS.  We'll be looking at his speech and the red flags for autism.  

finsup

You have it right - based on how our experience went.  They wiill also probl do a basic physical exam and a basic assesment - coloring, puzzle, categorizing, conversation etc.   Based on that you may schedule additional appts for official evaluations.

Septmomtobe

Our appointment was much longer and more in depth then I thought it would be.  We were being seen for speech delay (with ultimate dx of verbal apraxia).  We started with a nurse who took his vitals, birth history, developmental history etc...  We then moved to the "evaluation" part.  We met with a speech therapist and an occupational therapist.  They did many "tests" to evaluate him on various levels.  By tests I simply mean asking him to do various tasks, name objects, point to things, etc... We were then seen by the actual developmental pediatrician who did a physical evaluation, reviewed all the results of the "tests" and gave us a recommendation and diagnosis. We later received a written report of the findings as well.  If I remember correctly the entire appointment was close to 2 hours.

Jcrab

It will likely take 2+ hours so you might want to bring snacks, drinks and toys. Also if you have a list of questions for the MD they can be very helpful. Bring another adult as a set of ears if possible, these appointments can also be emotionally draining if you get bad news and even when you are expecting it. Good luck!