Welcome to the Thompson Center

The Thompson Center offers a range of health, educational and behavioral services in one location for individuals with autism and other developmental concerns. Professionals from different disciplines strive to deliver family-centered care that is comprehensive and coordinated.

Whether you are concerned that your child might be displaying signs of a developmental problem or if your child already has been diagnosed with a specific condition like autism, finding useful information and resources can be a bit overwhelming. We’re here to help.

Best Practice Evaluation

We know when you decide to have your child evaluated, it’s a big deal. You may have had concerns for a long time and may have received different opinions from family members, peers or professionals. Sometimes you hear that the child will “grow out of it”, but that hasn’t happened. When you reach this step, it’s important to know the evaluation will be conducted in a way that follows “best practice” guidelines, so your child receives a high quality evaluation, and your family receives valuable knowledge and insight. Your child is worth it.

Best practice evaluations contain several components:

• The lead diagnostician has expertise in the area being evaluated. At the Thompson Center, our diagnosticians have extensive training in typical development, neurodevelopmental disorders, and autism. They train others to become experts and participate in continuing education to stay current in the field.

• Multiple sources of information are obtained and utilized to get a full picture of the child. Our evaluations include input from school personnel and caregivers to get a current picture of the child. We also review records from the child’s previous services and educational settings to get a historical picture of the child.

• The child is directly observed for a substantial amount of time. Throughout our evaluation, the child is observed by different team members during different tasks. We meet as a team to share perspectives.

• The tests administered have solid psychometric properties and are “gold standard” measures. The Thompson Center only uses assessment tools that have been shown to measure what they are supposed to measure and are administered by highly trained professionals. To assess for autism, we use gold standard tools—those which are shown by research to most effectively tease apart symptoms of autism from overlapping symptoms.

• The report is thorough and explains the diagnostic conclusions. At the Thompson Center, we strive to make our reports easy to read and useful to professionals and families alike. We provide rationale and evidence for any diagnoses given.

• Recommendations are evidence-based and feasible. Our reports include next steps to help your child with whatever issue he/she is facing. We only recommend interventions and approaches which have been shown to be effective through research.

• Feedback is provided. Our family-centered evaluation entails spending time with parents to provide detailed feedback and answer all questions. We encourage families to call if more questions arise after they’ve had time to process the information and thoroughly read the report.

Behavior Management Policy

The Thompson Center believes in providing world-class care to improve the lives of individuals and families affected by autism and neurodevelopmental disorders. Though providing positive behavior supports to all patients is emphasized, there may at times be emergency situations that require additional behavior management procedures. The purpose of this policy is to maintain the safety of patients, personnel, and other individuals receiving services at the Thompson Center during emergency situations. If you would like a copy of our full policy, please ask the front desk at your visit.

Phone: (573) 884-6052