About Dr. Coplan

Dr. Coplan has been caring for children with special needs since 1977, but he realized his calling when he was a child himself—after his younger sister was diagnosed with a developmental disability. Dr. Coplan earned his B.A. from Dartmouth College in 1969, and his M.D. from New York Medical College in 1973. He completed his residency in pediatrics at Hartford Hospital 1973-75, followed by two years of public service in the National Health Service Corps. Dr. Coplan completed his fellowship in Child Development at The John F. Kennedy Institute (now Kennedy-Krieger Institute) at Johns Hopkins University, 1977-79. Thereafter, he spent 18 years on the faculty of the State University of New York-Upstate Medical Center, in Syracuse, NY, as Director of the Division of Child Development. In 1997, he assumed the position of Training Director at Children’s Seashore House of The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), and Director of Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities, an interdisciplinary training program for healthcare professionals on behalf of children with special needs.

In 2004, Dr. Coplan left CHOP to form his own practice – Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics of the Main Line, PC, – where he continues to serve children with developmental disabilities. Dr. Coplan also maintains an active teaching role within the University of Pennsylvania, where he holds appointments as Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the School of Medicine, and Clinical Associate Professor of Nursing at the School of Nursing, and an active schedule as author and public speaker on the subjects of early child development, speech and language delay, and autistic spectrum disorders.

Dr. Coplan has attained recognition in all three medical specialties pertaining to child development: Pediatrics (Fellow, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Board Certified in Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics), Child Neurology (Fellow, Child Neurology Society, and Board Certified, Neurodevelopmental Disabilities), and Child Psychiatry (Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine).

Dr. Coplan’s book, Making Sense of Autistic Spectrum Disorders: Create the brightest future for your child with the best treatment options (Bantam-Dell, 2010), introduces a revolutionary three-dimensional model of ASD that simultaneously takes into account a child’s atypical features, level of general intelligence, and age. This 3D model provides a “roadmap” on which to chart a child’s progress over time, and a framework for making decisions about the best therapies at each stage of development. His book also addresses the many conflicting claims regarding causation of autistic spectrum disorder, proven and unproven interventions, and possible reasons for the so-called “explosion” of cases of ASD.

Dr. Coplan has been honored with the Ellen Rudy Clore Excellence Award in medical writing, the first Physician of the Year award from the Philadelphia chapter of Variety, the Children’s Charity, three consecutive Top Docs awards from Philadelphia magazine, and six consecutive Teaching Honor Roll awards from the physician trainees at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Dr. Coplan resides on the Philadelphia Main Line, with his bride of 38 years. Dr. Coplan is an avid photographer and garden railroader.

For Dr. Coplan’s Bio, click here.
For Dr. Coplan’s Curriculum Vitae, click here.