DEVELOPMENTAL FX-THE DEVELOPMENTAL & FRAGILE X RESOURCE CENTRE

DFX works to:

1. transform the lives of children who have neurodevelopmental disabilities and mental health challenges so that they can live to their fullest potential;

2. serve as a resource to families, educators, and other care providers to offer them the tools to understand and administer to the complex, individual needs of each child; and

3. share our knowledge and change the landscape of what transformative care looks like for children who are non-neurotypical and their families - locally, nationally, and globally.

Developmental FX works to achieve its mission through four program areas which together create a tapestry to create, disseminate, infuse, and deliver Therapy that fits, the individualized, integrated, multidisciplinary care that is our signature.

Research, Innovation, and Advocacy: Creating
Creating and catalyzing our work and Therapy that fits philosophy through research and development.

DFX Learning Journeys: Disseminating
Disseminating Therapy that fits to therapists, educators, and families around the world.

Clinic in the Community: Infusing
Sharing the principles of Therapy that fits beyond the clinic with schools, caregivers, and community programs in Colorado and beyond.

DFX Clinic: Delivering
Delivering Therapy that fits, the highest quality multidisciplinary care, in an atmosphere of respectful engagement.

DFX co-founder and executive director, Tracy Stackhouse, is a leading pediatric occupational therapist (OT) involved in clinical treatment, research, mentoring, and training regarding OT intervention for persons with neurodevelopmental disorders, especially Fragile X Syndrome and autism. Tracy is a member of the National Fragile X Foundation Clinical Research Consortium, the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Committee, and the NFXF Advisory Council, and an expert advisor to the CDC and RTI Fragile X Priorities Panel. The DFX board includes professionals from throughout the Denver community who are leaders in healthcare delivery and administration, education, and other areas of expertise.

Our highly-skilled clinical team is trained to provide multidisciplinary care adhering to our Therapy that fits philosophy via occupational therapy, psychology, and speech language pathology. DFX's is committed to our philosophy of Therapy that fits, in which our clinical team develops an individualized care regimen for each child that works within the context of the family situation vis-à-vis family culture, sibling relationships, work and school schedules, and other practicalities that can become barriers to successful treatment if not addressed. We also spend time to support families’ understanding of a child’s diagnosis of a developmental disability or mental health issue, and believe that all of this is critical to creating positive, lasting outcomes for the child.

With support from Caring for Denver Foundation, in 2023 we began a journey to expand further the mental health support we provide to children and their families. We will engage in ongoing quarterly capacity building and training in embodied equity for our clinical team. Leadership team members will have enhanced training opportunities that will qualify them to provide this training to other clinicians, thus spreading the impact far beyond our clinic to reach ever more families.

DFX treats more than 300 children in our Denver clinic annually, and we also offer consultations and treatment via telehealth to children in Denver, throughout Colorado, across the US and around the world. We have established mentoring programs with clinicians around the world, and in 2021 expanded our training and mentoring activities via podcasts and an online educational platform, Learning Journeys, through which we seek to share best practices in pediatric occupational therapy and Therapy that fits with clinicians, educators, parents, and others from anywhere in the world. Our podcast, produced in partnership with a pediatric clinic in Australia, has already been downloaded by over 40,000 people worldwide - including listeners from every continent!