Transition to Adulthood Clinic
This clinic will coordinate care for youth ages 16-26 with neurodevelopmental disabilities* (NDD). MIND clinicians and staff will partner with youth and their families to facilitate their transition to adult health care providers and connect families to community-based agencies and supports. The clinic staff will discuss common needs of individuals with NDD as they transition to adulthood, including independent living, supported decision making, education and employment.
The Transition Clinic is led by Gayatri Mahajan, M.D., a developmental-behavioral pediatrician with extensive experience working with transition age autistic youth and adults, as well as those with intellectual disability and other neurodevelopmental disabilities. Additional team members include Lisa Harris-Chavez a licensed clinical social worker and Steve Ruder, a staff member at the MIND Institute, Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (CEDD) with extensive expertise in advocacy, school transition, employment and supported decision making.
* Neurodevelopmental disabilities include autism, intellectual disability, cerebral palsy, genetic syndromes such as Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome and more. Although individuals with NDD and co-occurring mental health conditions will be cared for, individuals with mental health conditions like anxiety disorder, depression, and ADHD without cooccurring NDD would be best served with a referral to psychiatry.
How to refer
UC Davis Health providers can enter a consult to the MIND Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics and enter Transition to Adulthood Clinic as a comment. Non-UC Davis Health Providers: Please submit a referral through UC Davis Health’s Physician Referral Center or by phone at 1-800-482-3284 option 3. Make sure to indicate the Transition to Adulthood Clinic as the reason for referral.
To learn more about our referral process, call our main number at 916-703-0300.
Transition to Adulthood Clinic Staff
Dr. Gayatri Mahajan is a pediatrician with many years of experience in primary care pediatrics prior to her completing her fellowship in the field of developmental-behavioral pediatrics. Her clinical and research interest is in health transition from pediatrics to adult medicine for youth with neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as education and outreach to adult primary care and specialty providers. She is also interested in the developmental follow up of high-risk infants and toddlers, including early diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder and cerebral palsy. As a Regional Center physician, she has acquired several years of experience advocating for the unique health needs of adults with developmental disabilities in the hospital and in the community. She is a strong advocate for compassionate end of life planning and advance directives for aging adults with developmental disabilities. She has served as the Chair of a statewide end- of- life workgroup that provided recommendations to ARCA (Association of Regional Center Agencies) and was the past Chair of the ARCA Physicians group.
Steve Ruder works in the MIND Institute’s Resource Center. He assists families and people with disabilities who have questions regarding high school transition, adult services, and employment. Steve is the facilitator for the Northern California Business Advisory Council. He also assists families with questions regarding supported decision-making before considering conservatorship.
