MEDICAL DIRECTORY
OPTOMETRISTS WASHINGTON EYE DOCTORS
202-998-4612 www.washingtoneyedoctors.com
900 17th St. NW #400, Washington, D.C.

20006 Washington Eye Doctors offers a full range
of eye care services and strives to make sure
every visit is as thorough and quick as possible.

2022 Medical
Directory VISIONARY EYE DOCTORS
301-896-0890 www.voeyedr.com
4301 Connecticut Ave. NW Suite 125,
Washington, D.C. 20008
Visionary Eye Doctors offers eye care
experts and the latest technologies in vision
maintenance and improvement.

PHYSICAL THERAPISTS
BY HEATHER M. ROSS
PEDIATRICIANS CHEVY CHASE
PEDIATRICS CENTER
202-363-0300 https://chevychasepediatrics.com/
5225 Connecticut Ave. N.W. STE 103,
Washington, D.C. 20015
Chevy Chase Pediatrics has served children
and families in the Washington, D.C. area for
more than 50 years. They can provide care for
newborns through adulthood and take pride in
being able to take care of the whole child. They
currently have COVID-19 vaccines for children
ages 5-11. They also offer specialty services
such as breastfeeding consultations, school
forms and special visits to get acquainted.

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CHILDREN’S NATIONAL
PEDIATRICIANS &
ASSOCIATES FOGGY BOTTOM
202-833-4543 https://childrensnational.org/
primary-care/foggy-bottom 2021 K St. N.W. Suite 800, Washington, D.C.

20006 Their team offers expert care for children at any
developmental stage from newborns to young
adults. Foggy Bottom offers all the standard
pediatrician services including developmental
testing and screening. Additionally if your child
needs specialty care they are prepared to refer
you to the best providers.

FOXHALL PEDIATRICS
202-537-1180 https://www.foxhallpediatrics.com/
3301 New Mexico Ave. N.W. #220,
Washington, D.C. 20016
Foxhall Pediatrics has experts for age groups 0
to 6 months, 6 months to 2 years, 2 to 10 years
and 11 to 22 years. They have COVID-19 vaccines
for children who are 6 months and older.

PULLMAN &
ASSOCIATES PEDIATRICS
202-466-4350 https://www.pandaped.com/
2440 M St. N.W. Suite #422, Washington,
D.C. 20037
Pullman & Associates – Panda Pediatrics works
to achieve their goal of making you and your
child comfortable while receiving the highest
level of care. They offer the vaccine for children
ages 12-18 with proof of age and parental
consent. Walk-in hours here are currently
suspended and have been replaced with
same-day sick appointments, which can be
scheduled by calling the office.

SPRING VALLEY PEDIATRICS
202-966-5000 http://www.springvalleypediatrics.net/
4850 Massachusetts Ave. N.W., Second
Floor, Washington, D.C. 20016
Spring Valley Pediatrics is ready to take care of
your child from birth through adulthood. They
offer the COVID-19 vaccine to children 6 months
and older. Spring Valley Pediatrics has been
serving the Washington Metropolitan Area for
almost 90 years.

THE MCCUISTON GROUP
| WASHINGTON DC
PEDIATRICS & LACTATION
202-525-2426 https://themccuistongroup.com/
106 Irving St. NW #218, Washington, D.C.

20010 The McCuiston Group aims to provide a
nurturing environment for all families. They
offer prenatal consults, lactation services,
immunizations and assistance with a wide
variety of conditions.

DENTISTS CAPITAL KIDS DENTISTRY
202-545-7200 www.capitalkidsdentistry.com
4200 Wisconsin Ave. NW $240, Washington,
D.C. 20016
Capital Kids Dentistry has a least-invasive
approach. Their goal is for your child to have
the fewest dental needs possible by teaching
preventative care like brushing, home care and diet.

CAPITOL HILL
PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY
202-849-3292 24 Washington FAMILY AUGUST 2022
https://capitolhillpediatric.dentist/ 650 Pennsylvania Ave. SE Ste. 220,
Washington, D.C. 20003
Capitol Hill Pediatric Dentistry offers an
experienced dental team and is committed to
providing children with excellent dentistry in a
comfortable environment. They offer convenient
hours and hospital care is available if necessary.

CHILDREN’S CHOICE
PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY
AND ORTHODONTICS
202-410-0088 https://www.mychildrenschoicedental.com/
2013 Bunker Hill Road NE, Washington, D.C.

20018 At Children’s Choice Pediatric Dentistry and
Orthodontics they believe that happy leads
to healthy and healthy habits lead to long-
term oral health. They offer a full range of
preventative and treatment solutions from
newborns to adolescents, including virtual
consultations. ROSE PARK
PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY DC
DINOSAUR PHYSICAL THERAPY
202-999-0908 https://dinopt.com/
5185 MacArthur Blvd. #220, Washington,
D.C. 20016
Dinosaur PT offers formal evaluations, informal
assessments, individual treatment sessions,
comprehensive home exercise programs
and family training. They are equipped to
help your child with their gross motor skulls,
developmental milestones, strength, balance,
coordination, motor planning, gait pattern and
endurance. SENSATIONAL KIDS THERAPY
202-244-8089 http://www.sensationalkids-therapy.com/#
2113, 4400 Jenifer St. NW #280, Washington,
D.C. 20015
Sensational Kids Therapy offers occupational
and physical therapy as well as fine motor
kids which are designed to help children
improve their writing, drawing, and eye-hand
coordination. TRIUMPH THERAPEUTICS
202-873-9696 https://www.pediatricdentistryatrosepark.

com/ 2440 M St. NW Suite 315, Washington, D.C.

20037 Rose Park Pediatric Dentistry offers a wide
range of preventative dentistry including
sealants, home care, athletic mouth guards
and more. They also offer space maintenance,
restorative dentistry, care for anxious patients
and some orthodontic treatments.

202-621-9793 www.triumphtherapeutics.com
4900 Massachusetts Ave. NW Suite 340,
Washington, D.C. 20016
Triumph Therapeutics has skilled language
therapists and occupational therapists for
children and adolescents. They specialize in
physical therapy, speech language therapy and
occupational therapy for children of all ages as
they work with families to reach your growth
and wellness goals.

SMILE VALLEY
PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY
HONEYBEE PEDIATRIC THERAPY
202-237-2833 https://www.smilevalleypediatricdentistry.

com/ 4910 Massachusetts Ave. NW #311,
Washington, D.C. 20016
Smile Valley Pediatric Dentistry boats
concierge-level service and high quality dental
care for infants, children and teens, including
those with different levels of ability.

202-546-7529 https://dchoneybeetherapy.com/
HoneyBee Pediatric Therapy comes to you.

They believe that children learn best in a
comfortable environment so they’ll meet you
where you are, whether that’s home, daycare or
a community playground. They offer physical,
occupational, speech and language therapy
and telehealth appointments. T



HEALTHY FAMILY
Why Children Fake Being Sick
and What to Do About It
BY HEATHER M. ROSS
A s parents, you hear a lot of talk
about how to tell if your child is
really faking being sick. But what
we really need to be talking about is why
your child is faking.

Lindsay Cirincione, Psy.D, director of
outpatient operations for the pediatric psy-
chology consult program at the Kennedy
Krieger Institute, gives her best advice for
parents in this situation.

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How to Tell If Your Child Is
Faking An Illness
“The first step you should take when you
think your child might be faking being sick
is to evaluate the existence of the illness,”
Cirincione says.

It can be hard to tell if your child is really
feeling ill if their complaints are things
you can’t measure, such as a headache or a
stomach ache. Cirincione says that in this
case, parents should look for secondary
symptoms—or the absence of secondary
symptoms. Is the child who is complaining of a
headache still running around, playing
and making lots of noise? Maybe the
headache isn’t quite as severe as it was
made out to be.

“The important thing to remember is to
not get into a power struggle with your child
and argue about whether they are telling the
truth or not,” Cirincione says.

If your child is faking, it’s more important
to understand why they felt like they needed
to fake an illness.

Why Children Fake It
The most common reasons children
fake being sick fall into two categories:
avoidance and attention. They could be
avoiding school because of a bully or
because they have anxiety about an upcom-
ing test or assignment. They might also be
faking an illness because they miss their
parents. If they haven’t seen you in a while,
they might need attention from you—and
that’s normal.

What To Do About It
Teach your child coping strategies such as
talking to a guidance counselor, taking deep
breaths to calm down or counting to 10.

Talk to their teachers about their aca-
demic performance and any overall concerns
relating to the classroom. If it seems like
your child has difficulty staying in class or
keeping up with the classroom’s pace, it
might be time to ask the school about testing
to see if any undiagnosed disabilities could
be a factor.

More importantly, talk to your child to see
if they’re feeling worried or upset. Cirinci-
one says to avoid making a big deal about the
symptoms themselves because that might
encourage the child to use similar tactics to
get attention from adults in the future.

“You help the child develop some
insight into the meaning of their deception
... and the motivations that may have driven
the behavior,” notes Judith A. Libow, PhD,
coordinator of psychological services at
Children’s Hospital in Oakland, California,
in an article on WebMD.

“Tell them, ‘I want to take care of you in
that way, too,’” Cirincione advises.

The most important thing to remember
when talking to your child about how and
why they’re feeling this way is to remain
neutral. Don’t overreact or convey frustra-
tion. Children usually have a good reason for
faking an illness and rarely have nefarious
intent, according to Cirincione.

This year is likely to be the first children
are fully back in the classroom after having
been home for much of the pandemic. That
transition is going to be hard for many chil-
dren who got used to sharing a space with
their families and now have to be away for
long periods of time.

You can ease this transition by setting
aside a “special time.” This means family
time or one-on-one time with your child. For
example, it could be a game night, a movie
night or time at the park together.

“Treat it like an appointment,” Cirin-
cione says.

Take this time seriously, the same as you
would a doctor’s appointment. Talk to your
child about it ahead of time, and give them
something to look forward to. The unpre-
dictability of the last two years has hurt
children’s ability to cope and adjust. A sta-
ble, guaranteed time with you will ease their
anxiety. “Parents need to understand and
remember that mental health is physical
health, too,” Cirincione says.

Anxiety can cause physical symptoms like
a stomach ache. Parents should also keep an
eye on their child’s mental health, or they
could be ignoring the cause of their child’s
symptoms. Don’t feel guilty for not understanding or
knowing right away why your child is faking
an illness. Many children don’t understand
themselves. They might just not know what
to do or how to express their concerns yet.

If you and your partner disagree on how to
handle the situation, try getting more infor-
mation before discussing it further. Talk
to teachers and counselors, and if you still
don’t agree, seek advice from a therapist.

Getting a neutral third party’s perspective
can take away a lot of the difficulty in making
sure everyone feels heard and respected. T
WashingtonFAMILY.com 25