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Dan L. Duncan Children’s Neurodevelopmental Clinic Helps Children Cope with Learning Disorders, Improves Children’s Lives

On May 5, 2008, the Dan L. Duncan Children’s Neurodevelopmental Clinic opened its doors to diagnose and treat children with learning differences and developmental disabilities.  The clinic, operated by the Children’s Learning Institute (CLI) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, was established through a generous $10 million gift by the Duncan family. 

The Duncan family’s experience with CLI developed when Dan Duncan’s grandson was treated for dyslexia.  Mr. Duncan’s daughter, Randa Duncan Williams, whose son is learning to cope with his dyslexia, says the decision to establish the clinic was “an easy choice because we’re dealing with our children, our future.”

According to Ms. Williams, when her son was diagnosed with dyslexia, she immediately began reading as much as she could on the subject.  She discovered that the resources available on the Internet were overwhelming and inaccessible.  “My family has been very blessed in a lot of ways, and with the establishment of the clinic, we want to help other families get the resources they need without going through what we did to find them,” she explained. 

CLI named Dr. Linda Ewing-Cobbs, a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Professor of Pediatrics, as the clinic’s Director.  Her clinical responsibilities include the diagnosis of a variety of developmental and acquired conditions in children, adolescents and young adults, including attention, learning and psychological conditions that often occur together. She has also worked extensively with children who have had traumatic brain injuries.

“It is an honor to serve as the clinic’s first Director,” said Dr. Ewing-Cobbs.  “The broad range of expertise and scope of services offered at the clinic make it the first of its kind in Houston as well as distinctive in the country.”

To achieve the clinic’s mission of enhancing children’s opportunities for successful living, Dr. Ewing-Cobbs and a team of clinic experts use cutting edge research to inform their diagnosis and provide individualized treatment for a wide variety developmental and acquired learning problems including autism, head injuries, learning disorders, and attention deficit disorders.  In addition to Dr. Ewing-Cobbs, the clinic has attracted a renowned and diverse group of practitioners including physicians Drs. Pauline Filipek and Daniel Williamson and, psychologists, Drs. Michael Assel, Cathy Guttentag and Mary Prasad.   They are also all faculty members in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Texas Health Science Center. 

After opening its doors over a year ago, Dr. Ewing-Cobbs is proud of the clinic’s accomplishments in its inaugural year.  “It was a major step forward to the clinical practice and to our psychology faculty when we merged with the developmental pediatrics practice of Dr. Daniel Williamson,” explained Dr. Ewing-Cobbs. 

Following decades of private practice experience in managing the medical needs of children with Neurodevelopmental problems, Dr. Williamson, a developmental pediatrician, joined CLI’s Dan L. Duncan Clinic as its Medical Director.  “Joining CLI and the clinic offered me a unique opportunity to collaborate with outstanding clinicians and researchers to help improve children’s health and learning.”

Dr. Williamson concurred that the integration of clinical operations for both CLI’s psychologists and neuropsychologists and his neurodevelopmental assessments in one facility has better served patients.  He said, “The progress in the past year has been wonderful.  Having this facility has allowed us to evaluate children in a more coordinated way and to let families understand their options.  It has also allowed us to let pediatricians know that this is a clinic that they can comfortably refer their patients to when they need evaluations.”

With the number of children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder on the rise there is a need in the community for integrated programs that can help children from the diagnosis through the medical evaluation.  This comprehensive approach guides parents to the best evidence-based interventions for their autistic children.  To meet this need, CLI recently hired one of the foremost Autism experts to expand the clinic’s ability to serve children with this disorder.  “Having Dr. Pauline Filipek join CLI and the Dan Duncan Clinic will add a whole new dimension to our practice given her background as a pediatric neurologist and her special interest in the early identification of children with Autism,” acknowledged Dr. Ewing-Cobbs. 

Dr. Ewing-Cobbs noted that the clinic’s early success is rooted in its integrated personalized approach. All patients receive a comprehensive and tailored evaluation to highlight both their areas of strength as well as their areas of weakness.  The clinic doctors and psychologists then use these assessments to help inform parents of the best interventions to help their children’s development. This will enable them to capitalize on their child’s areas of strength as well as provide targeted remediation for their areas of weakness.

The clinic’s work reaches beyond the clinic’s offices.  In recognition of the importance of partnerships and community outreach, the clinic’s reading intervention program seeks to work in school districts within the greater Houston community.  For the past two years, Dr. Ewing-Cobbs and her team have run satellite clinics in two Houston Independent School District schools to help low-income students who need additional work in reading.  After using evidence-based interventions to improve their reading skills, the lowest achieving students are now making significant gains in their reading. 

This summer the clinic also launched a new summer reading and math tutoring program to help children in first through fourth grades.  The summer tutoring clinic targets both struggling students as well as students with grade level academic skills. All intervention programs are evidence-based and have been identified as effective approaches to reading and math instruction.  Due to the success of this program, tutoring will continue during the school year.   

Dr. Ewing-Cobbs acknowledges that being on the ground floor of a new clinical initiative has been exciting.  She notes that nothing compares to the gratification she receives from witnessing a child’s joy after a successful intervention has helped that child learn to read and become immersed in a book.  This type of positive impact in the lives of children, families, and communities fulfills CLI’s and the Duncan family’s vision of providing all children a quality learning environment so that they are equipped to succeed in school and in life.