Biography
Dr. Benton is Professor with the UNM HSC School of Medicine, in the Dept. of Family Community Medicine. Dr. Benton received a BS in Special Education from the University of Texas El Paso in 1988 and worked as a special education teacher before entering medical school. She received her M.D. from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, TX in 1995 and completed her Family Medicine Residency at the University of New Mexico in 1998. She completed a Mini-Fellowship in Pediatric Developmental Disabilities at the University of Texas San Antonio and a Fellowship in Adult Developmental Medicine in Greenville, North Carolina.
Dr. Benton is the Principal Investigator/Medical Director of the Transdisciplinary Evaluation and Support Clinic (TEASC), the Adult Special Needs Clinic, the Adult Cerebral Palsy Clinic and the NM Department of Health SAFE Feeding Clinic (Supports and Assessments for Feeding and Eating). She serves as medical director of the NM DOH Developmental Disabilities Services Division (DDSD) Mortality Review Committee. She has been serving as the primary clinical consultant to the New Mexico Department of Health?s Developmental Disabilities Services Division since 2001.
Dr. Benton has focused her clinical practice on family and patient-centered care delivery for individuals with developmental/intellectual disabilities, complex special healthcare needs and adults with chronic conditions of childhood onset. Her clinical and research focus is in the area of complex care, developmental disabilities, cerebral palsy, spinal cord dysraphism/spinal cord injury, enteral feeding and atypical/nonverbal presentation of pain and illness in the patient with intellectual/developmental disabilities.
Dr. Benton is Board Certified in Family Medicine.
Personal Statement
My passion and love for one of the most vulnerable populations has driven my career focus. Since joining the UNM Department of Family and Community Medicine in January 2011, I have served in the position of Medical Director/Principle Investigator of the Transdisciplinary Evaluation and Support Clinic (TEASC Project). TEASC, funded by the New Mexico Department of Health/Developmental Disabilities Supports Division, is a consultation team that includes family medicine providers, psychiatrists, neurologist, neuropsychologist, licensed mental health counselors, nurse, experts in social services and health care systems, and a clinical social worker. TEASC heads several multidisciplinary consultative clinics. The Adult Special Needs Clinic, the Adult Cerebral Palsy Clinic, Adult Special Needs Community Outreach Clinics, Developmental Disability Mental Illness Clinic, Botox Clinic for Focal Tone Management and the NM DOH SAFE (supports and Assessments for Feeding and Eating) Clinic.
For the past 13 years, I have followed complex patients in my own continuity clinic at the Family Medicine Center « day a week. My patient panel has been progressively complex and heavily (approximately 90%) skewed with patients who have developmental disabilities, spinal cord injury or chronic complex conditions of childhood onset. Many of my patients are medically, psychiatrically and behaviorally complex, and are on the Medically Fragile Waiver, the Developmental Disabilities Waiver or the Mi Via Waiver. Providing comprehensive person centered primary care to complex patients require a lot of time and effort, come with a high paperwork burden and requires an approach which embodies Medical Home in the truest sense of the term. In October 2022, I made the very difficult decision to give up this primary care clinic so I could better serve New Mexico through teaching, curriculum design, research and outreach.
As a leader in the field of Developmental Disabilities I have served as the primary medical consultant to the NM DOH Developmental Disabilities Supports Division (DDSD), the DOH Clinical Services Bureau (CSB), the DOH Bureau of Behavioral Supports (BBS), The Litigation Management Bureau (LMB) and Incident Management Bureau (IMB) and the Division of Health Improvement (DHI). I have served on a number of committees, working to develop policies and procedures for improved health care of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The focus of my relationship with the Department of Health has been improving health outcomes and quality of life, aspiration risk management, aging, out of home placements, recognizing deteriorating health, end of life issues, guardianship, nursing education, healthcare coordination, improved healthcare delivery and other health related issues. Interprofessional education, curriculum development across disciplines and education of learners at all levels remains a focus of my work in TEASC and the UNM Health Science Center.
In addition to my duties in the TEASC team, I am the Principal Investigator for the PASRR Contract with BHSD. (GSA #14-630-7903-0009). PASRR, Preadmission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR) is a federal requirement to help ensure that individuals are not inappropriately placed in nursing homes for long term care. TEASC provides statewide level II Pre Admission Screening and Resident Review (PASRR) psychiatric evaluations of all referred nursing home applicants or residents.
Areas of Specialty
Non verbal presentation of pain or illness in the person with developmental disability
Developmental/Intellectual Disabilities complex care
Cerebral Palsy and related Neurologic conditions
Enteral Feeding Tube and ostomy Management in the Primary Care Setting
Management of complex medical, developmental disabilities syndromes and related conditions, recognition and management of complexities of childhood onset conditions
Certifications
November 14, 2016 ABFM Board Exam 2020 ABFM Maintenance of Certification 11/2019 Basic Life Support 11/2018 ACLS-Advanced Cardiac Life Support 11/5/2018 PALS-Pediatric Advanced Life Support 2006 Re-certified- American Board of Family Medicine 1999-present Diplomat, American Board of Family Medicine 1999 Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics 1995 New Mexico Board of Medical Examiners 1988 Texas Board of Education - Teacher Certification- Elementary and Special Education
Achievements & Awards
Outstanding Family Medicine Inpatient Attending, UNM Family Medicine Residency Program 2017-2018
Fellowship in Pediatric Developmental Disabilities - University of Texas San Antonio
Fellowship in Adult Developmental Medicine - Greenville, North Carolina AHEC
Key Publications
Journal Article
Long, Allison, Hidecker, Mary, Jo Cooley Young, Beth, Petres, Clarissa, Storaci, Chloe, Hurvitz, Edward, A. Benton, Antoinette, Gorter, Jan, Willem 2020 Expansion of the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS) to Adults and Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy
Journal Article
Benton, Antoinette, 2020 Angelman Syndrome
Journal Article
Benton, Antoinette, 2020 Cardiovascular Disease
Gender
Female
Languages
- Spanish
Courses Taught
WONCA World Rural Health Conference- Transdisciplinary Evaluation and Support Clinic, Providing Interdisciplinary Consultative Model for Individuals with Intellectual and developmental Disabilities.
Western Cape Department of Health, Alexandria Hospital- Maitland, Cape Town, South Africa - Changing the Paradigm - Moving from Institutionalization to Community Living
Mosi-Oa-Tunya Early Intervention and Special Education Program- Livingstone, Zambia - Chronic condition management in children and adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
69th Annual Meeting of the American Academy for Cerebral Palsy and Developmental Medicine (AACPDM), Austin, Texas-2 hour Instructional Course ?Comprehensive Aspiration Risk Management Plan for Individuals with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities?
North Carolina Policy Summit: Advancing Medical Health Homes for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Raleigh, NC, ?Transdisciplinary Evaluation and Support Clinic: An Interprofessional Clinical Consultative Team for Adults with Developmental Disabilities?
American Academy of Developmental Medicine and Dentistry (AADMD) Global Summit on Innovations in Health and IDD, Los Angeles, CA, ?Transdisciplinary Evaluation and Support Clinic (TEASC): An Interprofessional Clinical Consultative Team for Adults with IDD?
Towards Unity for Health International Conference, Ayutthaya Thailand, Poster Presentation ?A Model for Interprofessional Community Based Training and Consultation For Adults with Developmental Disabilities?
Mississippi Dept. Mental Health 29th Annual Joint MH/IDD Conference Community Integration: Common Challenges, Common Goals, Common Ground, Biloxi Mississippi-?Medical Services for Persons with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities: Transition from Institution to Community?
National Association for Rural Mental Health 38th Annual Conference- Anchorage Alaska, Dementia in Developmental Disability: How Can You Tell What?s Going On?
10th Annual Advances In Indian Health- Albuquerque, NM,- Working With Individuals with Developmental Disabilities
Research and Scholarship
Study # 05-253- Phase One: A Clinical Outcome Study of Clients Referred to the Adult Special Needs Clinic (SNC) Phase Two: A Clinical Outcome Study of Clients Referred to the Transdisciplinary Evaluation and Support Clinic (TEASC) Phase Three: A Clinical Outcome Study of Follow-up Data Obtained at 60, 120 and 180 days Post Distribution of SNC Evaluations Phase Four: A Clinical Outcome Study of Follow-up Data Obtained at 60, 120 and 180 days Post Distribution of TEASC Evaluations Phase Five: A Clinical Outcomes study
Expansion of the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS) to Adults and Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy
The Effect of Ambulatory Care Nurses Role Expansion on Improving Foot Injuries and Disorders in Primary Care Patients
Publications
Allison Long, BS, Mary Jo Cooley Hidecker, PhD, CCC-A/SLP, Beth Young, MS, Clarissa Petres, Chloe Storaci, Edward A. Hurvitz, MD, Antoinette Benton, MD, & Jan Willem Gorter, MD, PhD: Expansion of the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS) to Adults and Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy
Video Projects
2016- The SAFE Clinic Model-Developing a Comprehensive Aspiration Risk Management Plan for Individuals with Neurodevelopmental Disabilities
2010- Aspiration-Pathophysiology and Prevention-NM DDSD Training Unit
2003 - I?m Still Todd-Perspectives of A Man with Friedrich?s Ataxia
1999 - Sorting Out Diagnoses in Persons with Developmental Disabilities