Autism Treatment Network (ATN)

The Center for Autism and Related Disorders (CARD) at Kennedy Krieger Institute (KKI) is a multi-faceted, multidisciplinary program for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and their family members. CARD combines research, clinical assessment and intervention services, as well as community outreach and training to help improve the lives of individuals with autism spectrum disorders, their families, and the community who cares for them. To meet the complex needs of these families, CARD’s clinical program offers coordinated assessment and intervention by the disciplines of neurology, developmental pediatrics, child and adolescent psychiatry, speech and language pathology, occupational therapy, clinical psychology, neuropsychology, social work, and special education. CARD also coordinates with other clinics at Kennedy Krieger Institute, such as behavior psychology, audiology, physical therapy, sleep, gastroenterology and nutrition, and neurogenetics, when our patients require such services. KKI also has a long-standing agreement of affiliation with the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions (JHMI), which has allowed the two institutions to maintain a mutually beneficial partnership. The affiliation agreement has resulted in numerous faculty appointments, research collaborations and joint programs over the years, strengthening both organizations while allowing each one to focus on its respective areas of commitment.  With access to all of these resources at both Kennedy Krieger and Johns Hopkins, the standard of care prescribed by the Autism Treatment Network (ATN) overlaps well with the comprehensive care already provided in CARD’s Outpatient Clinic. More specifically, our implementation of the ATN protocol consists of three core evaluations including medical evaluation by a developmental pediatrician or neurologist, psychological evaluation by a clinical psychologist or neuropsychologist, and an ADOS evaluation by a clinical psychologist or speech language pathologist. Our ATN coordinator ensures that families complete these evaluations and the remaining portions of the ATN protocol.