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If your child has just been diagnosed with a neurological disorder or if your doctor suspects that there may be a problem, you’re probably feeling overwhelmed. Please know that we will explain your child’s condition fully and answer any questions you have. If you wish, Boston Children’s Hospital can also put you in touch with other families who have experienced similar conditions.

The social worker on our team can connect you with early intervention programs, other clinics within the hospital, and providers in your community. She can help to get you the support you need — everything from helping you get health insurance coverage and organizing transportation, to getting counseling for you and your family.

Evaluation and care

By seeing your child while he is very young, we can identify neurological problems early and intervene quickly.

We may prescribe medicines to treat your child’s seizures, spasticity, or other neurological problems.

An important part of our evaluation process is testing your child’s cognitive and language development, which is done by our developmental psychologist.

Other types of care that we may recommend for your child include:

  • physical therapy
  • occupational therapy
  • speech and language therapy
  • vision therapy

Most of these therapies are provided through early intervention programs in your community. We may also make referrals for evaluations for these therapies at Boston Children’s.

As your child grows up

If your child needs ongoing neurological care, we will help you make the transition to another Boston Children’s program that specializes in caring for older children. This usually happens when your child is around 3 years old.

The programs we refer patients to include:

You may also want to visit the Boston Children’s patient resources website for information on the wide array of support services available to families at Boston Children’s.