European Autism Congress

Biography

Biography: Jonathan Jervis

Abstract

Bermuda’s Child and Adolescent Services (CAS) annually receives many requests for its therapeutic summer camp. This Intervention is predominantly reserved for young children who present with traits primarily consistent with a neurodevelopmental disorder, disruptive, impulse-control and conduct disorders that subsequently exclude them from mainstream summer camp programs offered in Bermuda.  In recent years CAS summer camp has largely been used to assist in the process of differential diagnosis using a multidisciplinary team approach to rule out ADHD and ASD. To maximize the benefits of participation in such a service, individual referrals are short listed based on criteria set by the clinical team.  Age, presenting traits, gender, working diagnosis and overall group size are all considered ensuring there is an appropriate peer group for the summer experience, consequently maximizing benefits and minimizing risk to participants.   Daily observations by clinical staff, individual assessments, individual interactions, daily parent feedback, treatment plan guided interventions and daily review of each participant provides a comprehensive approach toward each service user. Over the years there have been high rates of service users diagnosed with ADHD and ASD. Camp referrals although similar in nature often involve varied symptom presentations making ruling out disorders a multifaceted process. Traditionally diagnosis of ADHD and ASD are made through questionnaire and snap shot interactions with trained clinicians. Utilization of the CAS therapeutic summer camp gives clinicians the opportunity to observe, interact and manage service users over a period of time providing more information and minimizing the likely hood of misdiagnosing.