Pediatric Autoimmune Encephalitis - An Interdisciplinary Approach 1932

Tuesday, October 28, 2025

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Location: ROOM: Astoria Room >>> DIRECTIONS: Third Floor >>> From the Main Elevator Bank, proceed left toward the Williford and Waldorf Rooms. Astoria is located beyond the Waldorf along the south corridor.

Presenter(s)

Melissa Fleming, MD

Attending Physician
Children's National Hospital
Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Corresponding Presenter(s)

Justin Burton, MD

Chief, Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation & Medical Director
Children's National Hospital & MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Sierra Quimby, CCC-SLP, CBIS

Senior Speech Language Pathologist
MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital
Washington, DC, United States

Slides Slides

Presenter(s)

Lauren Russell, MPT (she/her/hers)

Senior Physical Therapist
MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital
Washington, DC, United States
Lauren Robinson, OTR/L, CPAM, CSRS

Senior Occupational Therapist
MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital
Washington, DC, United States

Non-Presenting Contributor(s)

Bethany Rajaratnam, CCC-SLP, CPHQ

Senior Speech Language Pathologist
MedStar National Rehabilitation Hospital
Washington, DC, United States

Current literature lacks sufficient knowledge on the benefits of an interdisciplinary rehabilitation approach to managing and treating autoimmune encephalitis within the pediatric population, highlighting an important topic that remains under-investigated in clinical research. Our interdisciplinary approach encourages communication between services to improve carryover and optimize patient outcomes in the inpatient rehabilitation setting.

Learning Objectives:

Upon completion, participant will be able to discuss the differences in clinical presentation between pediatric and adult autoimmune encephalitis (AE)
Upon completion, participant will list benefits of an interdisciplinary rehabilitation approach as it relates to clinical outcomes
Upon completion, participant will identify therapeutic treatment strategies that target optimizing functional outcomes