Your Family's Journey

Intake and Evaluation

Step 1a, Intake Process: When you first reach out to Cortica, we'll walk you step by step through the intake process. You'll provide us some information on your child's health history and your insurance policy, and we'll schedule your family's first two visits with us: the initial neurodevelopmental evaluation and the subsequent care plan meeting.

Step 1b, Neurodevelopmental Evaluation: During your first visit, you'll meet with one of your pediatric neurologists. All of our pediatric neurologists specialize in child brain development and have an in-depth understanding of sensorimotor, cognitive, and language development. Your pediatric neurologist will perform a neurological examination and developmental-behavioral assessment of your child. The results of these assessments will help us understand what further diagnostic testing is needed and which therapies in the Cortica Care Model are best to begin.

A key goal is to identify potential causes and other factors that may be contributing to your child’s developmental delays so that these causes can be targeted through appropriate medical therapies. A Counselor, trained as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker or Marriage Family Therapist, is often a part of the neurodevelopmental evaluation. They will help understand the family and home environment and serve as a partner in your family journey at Cortica.

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Step 1

Intake and Evaluation

Intake and Evaluation

Step 1a, Intake Process: When you first reach out to Cortica, we'll walk you step by step through the intake process. You'll provide us some information on your child's health history and your insurance policy, and we'll schedule your family's first two visits with us: the initial neurodevelopmental evaluation and the subsequent care plan meeting.

Step 1b, Neurodevelopmental Evaluation: During your first visit, you'll meet with one of your pediatric neurologists. All of our pediatric neurologists specialize in child brain development and have an in-depth understanding of sensorimotor, cognitive, and language development. Your pediatric neurologist will perform a neurological examination and developmental-behavioral assessment of your child. The results of these assessments will help us understand what further diagnostic testing is needed and which therapies in the Cortica Care Model are best to begin.

A key goal is to identify potential causes and other factors that may be contributing to your child’s developmental delays so that these causes can be targeted through appropriate medical therapies. A Counselor, trained as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker or Marriage Family Therapist, is often a part of the neurodevelopmental evaluation. They will help understand the family and home environment and serve as a partner in your family journey at Cortica.

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Step 2

Creating a Treatment Plan for Your Child

Creating a Treatment Plan for Your Child

Step 2, Care Plan Meeting: About a week after your neurological evaluation, we’ll invite you back to receive our treatment and testing recommendations from your medical provider. Your neurologist will clarify your child’s diagnosis, make recommendations for additional tests or evaluations (if appropriate), and outline a treatment plan.

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Step 3

Multi-Specialty Evaluations and Counseling

Multi-Specialty Evaluations and Counseling

Step 3a, Multi-Speciality Evaluations: Your first few appointments consist of additional assessments by the clinical specialists who will be working with your child and may include an occupational therapist, physical therapist, music therapist, speech-language therapist, ABA or others. These assessments will establish a baseline from which to measure progress and help our therapists to develop discipline-specific objectives that support our shared goals for your child.

Step 3b, Counseling and Learning: The centerpiece of the Cortica Care Model is our Family & Home program. There are two reasons it's so important. First, the well-being of your family, together with certain principles and practices in the home, is essential to getting the most from any treatment your child receives. Second, your Family Consultant serves as your guide in coordinating all treatment for your child and in managing the administrative necessities of a multi-faceted care plan. Our Family Learning Series, which addresses both of these areas, takes place concurrently with your child's treatment and will be tailored to your family's unique goals and needs.

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Step 4

Ongoing Treatment and Care Integration Meetings

Ongoing Treatment and Care Integration Meetings

Step 4a, Therapies: Experience tells us that regular, consistent therapy guided by a longer-term plan is how progress is made. In the course of treatment, the members of Cortica's clinical team will work in close collaboration to build a shared understanding of your child's needs, work toward common goals, and develop strategies and supports to accelerate growth and positive change.

Step 4b, Quarterly Medical Follow-Ups: Every quarter, Cortica's medical team will check in on your child's physical health and well-being. Our medical providers follow a phased approach to testing and treatment developed by Dr. Goh. With progression through each phase of follow-ups, we monitor, extend, and refine our treatment of your child’s neurophysiology and biochemistry.

Step 4c, Care Integration Meetings: The team involved in your child's care frequently meets to ensure alignment of goals and activities. Every six months, if you are receiving a comprehensive program, you will meet with all of the clinicians involved in your child's care to review progress against original goals and create new ones, in every domain of the Cortica Care Model.

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