(She/Her/HErs)
Developmental Neuropsychologist
Dr. Patricia Gates Ulanet is a Developmental Neuropsychologist with a specialization in Behavioral Medicine and Applied Development.
Dr. Ulanet’s career has focused exclusively on specialized assessment, diagnoses and treatment of toddlers, preschoolers, school age children and adolescents with complex developmental issues including Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), epilepsy, brain injuries, sensory processing, attentional and behavioral challenges, and children with special psychoeducational needs, including those complex learning profiles and specific learning disorders.
Dr. Ulanet is well-versed in supporting families while concurrently interfacing with educational and interdisciplinary entities to assure coordinated and comprehensive care. She is equally comfortable in interpreting assessment results to parents, educators and treatment teams, as in implementing recommendations to ensure effective implementation and measurable response to intervention (RTI). She has advised the Montgomery County DESC Team for diagnostic support and IEP development, provided faculty in-service training and parent education, and consulted for The Treatment and Learning Center, Katherine Thomas School regarding diagnostic assessment of complex cases.
Previously, Dr. Ulanet held a faculty position on the Diagnostic Team of the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital and participated as researcher and clinician in the Research Unit in Pediatric Psychopharmacology (RUPP). She succeeded the Director of the Clinic for Complex Developmental Disorders at Children’s National Medical Center in 2000, and stayed on through the program transition to the Center for Autistic Spectrum Disorders (CASD). At that time, Dr. Ulanet also became Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Behavioral Sciences and Pediatrics at the George Washington University Medical Center. In 2005, Dr. Ulanet was offered the position as Director of Psychological Services at the River School in Washington, DC; a role that included assessment of neurodevelopmental progress of young children with cochlear implants and various neurodevelopmental concerns including behavioral, neurological, attention, memory and learning difficulties as well as providing early differential diagnosis of ASD and hearing loss. Dr. Ulanet’s research includes identification of a specific subtype of neurocognitive processing in young children with cochlear implants. These finding were presented at the international Symposium for Cochlear Implants in May of 2012 and published in 2014.
Dr. Gates Ulanet has also developed and implemented an early social emotional learning curriculum for young children (ages 2 years through 3rd grade). She is current on the trends in the autism literature including advances on the impact of executive functioning challenges in children with ASD as well as the concept of neurodiversity and the importance of identifying each child’s strengths to support areas of vulnerability in order for children to meet with educational success and a bright and fulfilling future.
She holds a BA in Psychology from Case Western Reserve University, an MA in Mental Health and Human Development from John Carroll University, and was awarded a Doctorate of Psychology in 1992 from Nova Southeastern University. She conducted Internship and Residency in Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Miami Children’s Hospital through the divisions Behavioral Medicine, Neuroscience and Psychiatry. She is a member if the American Psychological Association and a parent.
