Dr. Gary L. Jones, PhD

Meet Dr. Gary Jones:Dr. Gary Jones began his work with preschoolers, children, adolescents and adults 30 years ago. He has been in private practice in Tulsa since 2000 and beginning in 2005 he developed a special interest in Autism becoming 1 of 10 Floortime Clinicians in Tulsa.Therapy:Young children who cannot yet benefit from talk therapy are served by a special kind of play therapy called Floortime. Floortime is essentially playing with children to accomplish certain goals or objectives. Dr. Jones is one out of about a dozen professionals in the Tulsa area that is certified as a Floortime Clinician. The certification required four years of post-doctoral study and supervision. Unlike many forms of play therapy – the goal of Floortime is to teach parents how to do Floortime with their child. So, every session of Floortime involves the parent(s) and the child playing together to help the child develop skills or overcome problems.Older children or adolescents are frequently invited to …play … board games, basketball, hot wheels … but the purpose of this play is to give the child or adolescent something to do with his or her hands while we talk. However, if s/he is moderately to severely impaired by autism then the Floortime described above still applies but just with different toys. Parents are still in the room and most of the conversations are guided by cognitive behavioral therapy. Occasionally, s/he will do better working with Dr. Jones alone so sometimes that happens.Testing:Parents or legal guardians often want to know how much testing is needed to find out if their child or teenager has ADHD … or has autism … or has a learning disability. That question cannot be answered until the first session (initial clinical interview) because the amount and type of testing depends on what questions need to be answered. Sometimes a question can be answered with one or two hours of testing. Sometimes a question requires a comprehensive evaluation which involves four hours of psychological and neuropsychological testing and another four hours of report writing. The other question frequently asked is about the cost. Medicaid or SoonerCare patients pay nothing for testing. The cost for individuals who have private insurance varies depending upon the deductible, the reason for testing and the number of hours needed for the assessment. Most insurance companies do NOT pay for psychoeducational testing (for learning problems) but will cover testing for ADHD, anxiety, autism, mood disorders, etc. At the first session, a plan for the testing will be developed and all insurances cover the initial clinical interview (assuming they list Dr. Jones as one of their providers). If necessary, an estimate of the cost will be provided. Testing is expensive because it is expensive to obtain the doctoral and post-doctoral training that qualifies an individual to test. However, Dr. Jones will make every effort to make the assessment affordable to each family that needs it.