UnityPoint Health - Blank Children's Developmental Center

Developmental Center 

At Blank Children's Hospital, we offer a Developmental Center to help children in need of evaluation, diagnosis and treatment for developmental-related conditions. Our multidisciplinary approach enables the collaboration of medical specialists, therapists, psychologists and others to offer your family comprehensive care. Our team takes a close look at the medical and psychosocial aspects of developmental and behavioral problems to offer appropriate intervention and treatment options. UnityPoint Health – Blank Children’s Psychology, housed within the Blank Children’s Developmental Center, offers services to support patients and families experience a wide range of difficulties.

Additionally, our team follows babies who experience certain complications before birth, or shortly after. The babies can occasionally experience problems with vision, hearing, communication, behavior, or delays in mental or motor development. Most at-risk infants develop and grow normally, suffering no lasting effects from the early complications. Those few who do develop problems, however, can be identified early through our regular screenings.

Conditions We Help Diagnose and Treat

• Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
• Autism
• Birth defects
• Down syndrome
• Genetic anomalies
• Hearing and vision impairments
• Learning and attention disorders
• Sensory and language disorders

Developmental Screening Program

The Developmental Screening Program provides continuing care for babies who have been patients in the Blank Children's Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and who are at risk for developmental problems. 

• Periodic developmental screening of infants at 4 months, 9 months, 18 months and 2 1/2 years who were cared for in the NICU.
• Early identification of developmental problems.
• Assistance to families in referring their child for further evaluation and intervention.
• Guidance to families regarding a child's developmental progression as well as behavioral and nutritional information and resources.

Screening Process

• At each examination, your child will receive physical and developmental screenings with special emphasis on neurological and developmental assessment. This program is for screening only and does not provide any well-child care.
• Following each screening, a summary letter of the findings and recommendations will be sent to your child's primary care physician and to appropriate interdisciplinary team members. If the screening identifies any problem areas, a diagnostic evaluation will be advised.
• Any referral recommendations will be discussed with the parents and their primary care physician. Developmental evaluations will be performed by an advanced registered nurse practitioner who has specialized training in assessing the growth and development of children.