The Kennedy Krieger Institute is the child development center affiliated with Johns Hopkins.  So when you call them they will say that they are “not Johns Hopkins” but then they will tell you they are affiliated.  It’s kinda like saying that while your son isn’t you, they are still affiliated with you.
Johns Hopkins and Kennedy Krieger work hand in hand.  It has been an absolute blessing.  

You call this number for triage: Toll-Free Referral Line: (888) 554-2080  It’s about an hour on the phone but they will ask you lots of questions and insurance info and stuff.  After that you are put on wait lists and they will call you with a time and appointment.  It took us exactly one year for the initial call to begin getting testing but once that happened he had everything done within two months.  

They worked with us because we lived so far away.  We would drive up the night before, stay at a hotel, and the testing would begin at usually around 8am and would finish around 2pm just in time to head back on the HOV before traffic got ridiculous. 

Josh had speech language, IQ and Cognitive testing, an ADOS test (the only truly objective measure/test for diagnosing Autism), Behavioral Psychology and Feeding Disorder.  The continuity of care was AMAZING.  

The testing was FANTASTIC.  We not only found out what was troubling Joshie’s thought process (acute ADHD).  But we found out conclusively that he did not have Autism though he does share many of the traits.  It is in learning that we could definitively create a plan of care and implement it instead of continuing to fumble around in the dark. 

We are so pleased with the results.  Joshie has already grown leaps and bounds.  All of this being said, without our neurodevelopmental pediatric nurse practitioner - Martha Jones (CHKD) - we wouldn’t have had the resource to implement the findings here in Virginia Beach.  She works with everything that we find out and blends it together to help us.  One day I hope to grow up to become her;  so that’s how we did it. 

If you have any questions, you can always contact me directly.