For more than four decades, the UAB Civitan-Sparks Clinics have played an important role for families, students, and communities throughout the state of Alabama and around the country. Through affiliations with the UAB Civitan International Research Center and the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology, Civitan-Sparks Clinics faculty and therapists collaborate with colleagues and researchers in the fi eld of developmental disabilities worldwide. The Clinics provide services for individuals and families throughout Alabama with developmental disabilities such as autism spectrum disorders, Rett syndrome, cerebral palsy, inherited metabolic disorders, attention defi cit-hyperactivity disorder and Down syndrome.

The Clinics take an interdisciplinary approach and involve faculty from pediatrics, psychiatry, nursing, psychology, speech pathology, audiology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, special education, nutrition, dentistry, optometry, and social work. The clinical facility is located in downtown Birmingham on 20th Street South in the Community Health Services Building.
The Autism Psychopharmacology Clinic provides pharmacology management and serves children of all ages with ASD. The initial evaluation includes a review of medical and psychiatric issues that affect the symptomatology of autism.

Dr. LaTamia Green in Autism Psychopharmacology Clinic

Medications are used to decrease aggressive, repetitive and disruptive behavior. Follow-up visits are scheduled every four to six weeks to evaluate medication effi cacy. During each visit a biopsychosocial update is obtained to monitor their progress.

LaTamia White Green, MD is the Medical Director of the Civitan-Sparks Clinics and Assistant Professor in the UAB Department of Psychiatry and Neurobiology, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Division. She has worked with children with various developmental disorders, including autism, for over ten years. Her clinical interests include autism and other developmental disorders with her research focus being on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Currently, she directs the Autism Psychopharmacology Clinic at the Civitan-Sparks Clinics and participates in the Children’s Behavioral Health Clinic located at Children’s Hospital of Alabama. As the parent of a fi fteen-year-old son with high-functioning autism, Dr. Green speaks at various parent groups as an advocate for children with autism spectrum disorders and works with various organizations to improve services in the mental health fi eld for children with autism.

Valisia Davis with an autism client.

She is a member of Governor Bob Riley’s Alabama Autism Task Force, the statewide Needs Assessment Team, and the subcommittee that examined medical interventions for children with ASD. She is a member of Collaboration for Autism Research, Education, and Service (CARES), consisting of faculty and staff from various departments at UAB who are dedicated to working specifi cally in the area of ASD. Valisia Davis, RN, MSN, CRNP is Pediatric Nurse Practitioner to Dr. Green in the Civitan-Sparks Autism Psychopharmacology Clinic. Her background includes working with children with various developmental disorders over the past three years at the Civitan-Sparks Clinics. She was the primary nurse practitioner in the Sparks Autism Diagnostic Clinic from 2006 to 2009, and worked in the Sparks Pediatric Clinic evaluating the medical needs of children with typical development as well as those with developmental disorders.

Parent and child in Autism Psychopharmacology Clinic

Ms. Davis is a member of CARES. She is a Clinical Instructor for undergraduate students in the UAB School of Nursing and, through the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) which is an interdisciplinary leadership training program federally funded through HRSA’s Maternal Child Health Bureau, she mentors nurse practitioner students at the graduate level who receive stipends. In July 2010, Ms. Davis completed “Diversity in MCH Training: A Peer Collaborative” which was an intensive 9-month collaborative peer learning process in which a small number of highly motivated grantees were provided a structured and safe environment to address challenges to racial and ethnic diversity within their Training Program.

Cynthia Helms, BM is Administrative Associate to Dr. Green, scheduling new patient and return appointments for the Civitan-Sparks Autism Psychopharmacology Clinic. Additionally, she performs administrative duties for the Medical Director and the Senior Staff Leadership Team of the Civitan-Sparks Clinics.