Specialty Psychiatric Services • New Jersey: in-person evaluations + in-person or telehealth follow-ups • Florida: telehealth
Areas of Expertise · Condition
Autism & Developmental Concerns
When developmental differences occur alongside concerns involving attention, anxiety, mood, behavior, or emotional regulation, psychiatric evaluation can help clarify the broader clinical picture.
Parents may reach out because a child already has an autism or developmental diagnosis and new psychiatric concerns have emerged. Others are trying to understand a more complicated pattern involving attention, behavior, anxiety, emotional regulation, school difficulties, or development.
Dr. Hubsher’s role is to look at these concerns in a psychiatric context. Questions that require specialized developmental or neuropsychological testing call for a different type of evaluation.
Parents may reach out because a child already has an autism or developmental diagnosis and new psychiatric concerns have emerged. Others are trying to understand a more complicated pattern involving attention, behavior, anxiety, emotional regulation, school difficulties, or development.
Dr. Hubsher’s role is to look at these concerns in a psychiatric context. Questions that require specialized developmental or neuropsychological testing call for a different type of evaluation.
How Do Developmental and Psychiatric Concerns Overlap?
A developmental diagnosis doesn’t prevent a child or adolescent from experiencing separate psychiatric concerns. Attention difficulties, anxiety, mood changes, behavioral problems, and emotional dysregulation may occur alongside developmental differences.
At the same time, similar behaviors can have different explanations. Difficulty concentrating, becoming overwhelmed by changes in routine, problems at school, or emotional outbursts need to be understood in context rather than attributed automatically to one diagnosis.
How these concerns present can also shift with age. A young child’s difficulty with transitions may look different from an adolescent’s growing frustration with social expectations, or an adult’s new attention, mood, or anxiety concerns alongside a longstanding developmental diagnosis.
A broader psychiatric evaluation considers the concerns bringing the patient in, how they affect everyday functioning, and whether additional psychiatric factors may be contributing.
At the same time, similar behaviors can have different explanations. Difficulty concentrating, becoming overwhelmed by changes in routine, problems at school, or emotional outbursts need to be understood in context rather than attributed automatically to one diagnosis.
How these concerns present can also shift with age. A young child’s difficulty with transitions may look different from an adolescent’s growing frustration with social expectations, or an adult’s new attention, mood, or anxiety concerns alongside a longstanding developmental diagnosis.
A broader psychiatric evaluation considers the concerns bringing the patient in, how they affect everyday functioning, and whether additional psychiatric factors may be contributing.
What a Psychiatric Evaluation Looks At
Dr. Hubsher takes a comprehensive approach to every evaluation, including when autism or another developmental condition is a concern. He looks at the whole picture, not only whether a diagnosis fits: the patient’s history, daily life, goals, concerns, past treatment, and how symptoms interfere with everyday functioning.
Previous diagnoses, school evaluations, neuropsychological testing, therapy records, medication history, and information from other providers can add useful context when available. That information helps him understand new or changing psychiatric symptoms alongside the patient’s developmental history, and decide what the current evaluation needs to address.
The purpose is not to assume that every new difficulty is explained by autism or another developmental condition. It is to understand what has changed, what is interfering with daily life, and whether ongoing psychiatric care is needed.
Previous diagnoses, school evaluations, neuropsychological testing, therapy records, medication history, and information from other providers can add useful context when available. That information helps him understand new or changing psychiatric symptoms alongside the patient’s developmental history, and decide what the current evaluation needs to address.
The purpose is not to assume that every new difficulty is explained by autism or another developmental condition. It is to understand what has changed, what is interfering with daily life, and whether ongoing psychiatric care is needed.
How Is a Psychiatric Evaluation Different from Developmental Testing?
Psychiatric Evaluation
Developmental / Neuropsychological Testing
What Treatment Is Available When Psychiatric Concerns Are Present?
When psychiatric symptoms are identified, Dr. Hubsher discusses treatment based on the patient’s clinical picture, history, previous treatment, and current concerns.
Medication may be considered when appropriate as part of the broader treatment plan. All new patients begin with a psychiatric evaluation before medication management.
Learn About Medication Management →
Medication may be considered when appropriate as part of the broader treatment plan. All new patients begin with a psychiatric evaluation before medication management.
Learn About Medication Management →
What Support Is Available Beyond Psychiatric Care?
Some children and families may also benefit from therapist-led support for emotional, behavioral, executive-function, parent, or family concerns. These services are separate from Dr. Hubsher’s psychiatric care and address different aspects of everyday functioning.
Therapy and other support services may address different needs alongside psychiatric care when appropriate.
Therapy and other support services may address different needs alongside psychiatric care when appropriate.
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