Primary Care
Guidelines for health supervision of infants, children and adolescents recommend children visit a physician for preventable healthcare six times during the first year, three in the second year and annually thereafter.
Health issues faced by special needs children differ; the children seen at DDC Clinic have multiple, chronic and sometimes life-threatening diseases. Primary and secondary prevention of these chronic conditions are established through early diagnosis and treatment.
As an outpatient pediatric clinic, we provide complete medical care for children with special needs. Families, even grandparents, come with the children during the initial visit. This is one of the first places where the difference in our clinic and other medical facilities becomes clear – our medical staff spends a great deal of time, often hours, with each patient to collect a complete family and medical history; diagnoses are confirmed through DNA testing.
The pediatrician at DDC Clinic follows every child as his or her primary care physician; the medical staff monitors well-child visits needed to track development and keep essential immunizations up-to-date. In addition, we provide care the child might need when he or she is sick. Patients, and their families, benefit from the knowledge and skills of a medical staff who work exclusively with patients who have rare genetic disorders.
Children with special needs require more extensive care than typically developing children. Our medical staff has found they learn more from extended conversation and the sharing of information from families. This knowledge allows the staff to treat the child as a whole, incorporating their understanding of the genetic disorders as they treat the day-to-day problems that arise.