Choosing the correct paediatrician is a major challenge for any parent. This job becomes even more complicated when the parents have to find a qualified paediatrician for a special needs child. Such children require a more specialized paediatrician who can assess their needs and provide solutions accordingly.
Let us see what are a few must-haves in a paediatrician for a special needs child.
What is the area of practice?
Here we are talking about both the geographical and the medical area of the doctor’s practice. You should feel free to ask whether they have any experience or knowledge of handling children with special challenges or have ever dealt with similar cases like yours before.
Specialized paediatricians can create special care diets and treatments for your children.
On a side note, you should also look at the area where your child will be visiting the paediatrician. See whether the area is pleasing, kid-friendly and most of all undisturbing to your child’s needs.
Ready to Coordinate
As a parent of a special needs child, you must be ready to coordinate with your paediatrician and the other specialists that you might be consulting. When all the treatments go hand in hand, children can develop into their better versions sooner.
You can also contact your paediatrician and ask them to keep a tab on your child’s supplementary treatments so that everyone is on the same page. However, you must choose a paediatrician who would be willing to go that extra mile for better care for your child.
Location
Before narrowing down or finalizing your paediatrician, consider their locations too. As a parent of a special needs child, you might have to make frequent trips down to your paediatrician.
Even though you can always reach your doctor through phone calls, it is better to have the closest to your place for any last-minute visits or emergency cases. This brings us to the next point.
Availability
What exactly are their availability and schedule? Do they have multiple practising locations? Some of the doctors have multiple clinics in different areas which they visit from time to time. However, you will not necessarily meet the same paediatrician every time you visit such clinics.
Special children require special care which should be curated by one person based on their expertise and observations. Such special care won’t be possible at a paediatrician with multiple locations.
Final words
A perfect paediatrician can get your child’s health better than you can imagine. Also, remember that experience says the most! So make sure to seek recommendations from your friends and family before making any choices; from those who have themselves been to any specialized paediatricians and those who just heard about it.
There are plenty of online sites like this website as well where you can find reviews about paediatricians. So go through it all and find the best out there and if after a few meetings you feel it isn’t working out then feel free to quickly jump to the next branch! Your child’s needs are not something to compromise!
