Parents bring their children, teens, and young adults to RNBC for a range of different services, including assessments, individual or family psychotherapy, speech/ language services, medication consultation, friendship groups, executive function tutoring and educational consultation.

When a child, teen, or young adults arrives at Rush NeuroBehavioral Center, we begin with the following steps:

1. We asses the child’s strengths and weaknesses. This process may include interviews, psychological testing, neurological or psychiatric evaluations, and speech and language assessment.
2. We share the results of this evaluation with the parents and (when requested) with schools or referring professionals.
3. We offer our recommendations for treatment and management of the problem based on an understanding of the child, the family, the school environment, the social and peer relationships that exist.
4. We provide case management, choosing from the many services we offer within the same clinical environment, to coordinate those that are needed to enhance the experiences of the child and optimize the child’s development.

Starting Early

Parents who suspect that a child may be showing signs of one of the issues we focus on may tell themselves, “Perhaps this is a just a phase. Let’s see if my child will grow out of it.” And indeed, not every small child who can talk for forty-five minutes about a single subject has Asperger’s Syndrome, and not every child who is extremely active has ADHD.

However, when a constellation of symptoms appears that indicates a child has a brain-based learning or behavior issue, it is best to begin intervention as soon as possible. Great improvements can result when a child is young and the brain is most able to learn and change.