Children's Special Services
Children born with developmental disorders are cared for by the staff of the Children’s Restorative Care Unit (CRCU). The CRCU comprises an inpatient unit and a number outpatient clinics serving over one thousand children throughout the state of Texas.
They assist the child and family to achieve the highest possible level of health and functioning within the community. Members work to alleviate the medical and psychological effects of long lasting and complex medical problems. For those children with terminal diseases, they supply palliative care, such as the Butterfly Program that supports families of children progressing though the end stage of their illness.
In hospital care is provided on the 5th floor of Children’s Hospital. Many of these children are graduates of the Infant Special Care Unit from outlying areas of East Texas. Until recently, they and their families have been obliged to make the long and often expensive trip back to Galveston, many of them with supportive equipment, but telemedicine has greatly reduced the burden on families of children in rehabilitative care.
Dr. Sally S. Robinson has actively promoted and utilized telemedicine from its inception at UTMB. Since October 1996, regular clinics here in the hospital have followed patients in Beaumont and Nacogdoches. Primary care physicians aided by a nurse in these cities can present their patients via dedicated and secure transmission lines to a team of specialists at Children’s Hospital for evaluation. Results of numerous tests are immediately available to doctors at both sites.
The entire pediatric rehabilitation team attends these clinics. Two ½-day clinics at each site each month see 2-6 patients. Five sites in local independent school systems provide ongoing direct patient consultation and education for school personnel.
Resources for Special Needs Children
- The Internet Resources for Special Children (IRSC) web site is dedicated to children with disabilities and other health related disorders worldwide.
- Children with special needs: A listing of resources on the internet