Clinical Assessment and Diagnostics Track - Full year (2 positions)
The Clinical Assessment and Diagnostics (CAD) department at the Marcus Autism Center emphasizes flexible, empirically supported approaches to clinical assessment in the context of an interdisciplinary framework. Across the year, interns will train within the clinic and research enterprise that provides diagnostic assessments of individuals with a wide range of neurodevelopmental disorders. Children seen in the CAD clinic range from infancy to late adolescence with a focus on children ages 16 months to 6 years. Each child is assessed for Autism Spectrum Disorder as well as the many differential diagnoses commonly seen in this population, including developmental delay, intellectual disability, anxiety disorders, behavioral disorders, ADHD, genetic syndromes, such as Fragile X syndrome, as well as many others. The children seen in the CAD are highly diverse in their race, ethnicity, urbanacity, socioeconomic status, and age. These assessments are designed to identify cognitive and developmental strengths and weaknesses, assess adaptive functioning, provide diagnostic clarification, and to determine the need for intervention. Assessments incorporate measures of development, cognition, play, and adaptive behavior. Assessment of language, visual-motor skills, and behavior are included as needed. This rotation provides the opportunity to work on cases within a multidisciplinary team that includes clinical psychologists, as well as developmental pediatricians, psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, speech and language pathologists, and social workers/case managers on a case by case basis.
Opportunities to conduct diagnostic assessments within one or more of the over 25 active research studies are also available. In addition, opportunities to participate in evaluations through the Developmental Neurology Clinic (DNC) at the Center for Advanced Pediatrics exist. The DNC consists of a multidisciplinary team including a developmental neurologist, a developmental pediatrician, a genetic counselor, a social worker, a parent liaison, and psychologists. It focuses on assessing children with developmental disabilities other than idiopathic autism spectrum disorders. Interns typically complete a ½ day minor rotation throughout the entire year. Possible minor rotations may be available in the Severe Behavior Department, Feeding Department, Early Intervention Program, and/or Anxiety/CBT Program.
Minor Rotation Options
RUBI-Parent Training Program (minor rotation) within the Severe Behavior Program is an outpatient program developed and shown to decrease challenging behaviors in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) between the ages of 3 and 10. The program involves teaching parents a number of strategies to prevent, manage, and reduce occurrences of problem behaviors of mild to moderate severity while promoting skill development.
The Brief Behavior Intervention (BBI) Program (minor rotation) within the Severe Behavior Program is a weekly outpatient program. Children have a variety of problem behaviors of moderate to high severity, including aggression, self-injury, noncompliance, disruptive behavior, elopement, and pica. Targeted treatment goals are achieved through the therapist coaching the caregiver in completing a functional analysis and implementing treatment. There is a heavy emphasis on parent training, with the caregivers rehearsing skills both during the appointment as well as between appointments.
The Pediatric Feeding Clinic (minor rotation) offers interns the opportunity to treat children ages 9 months to 21 years who do not consume enough volume or variety of food to maintain adequate growth or nutrition. Children with this level of feeding disorder fall under the broader psychiatric diagnosis of Avoidant-Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID).
The Early Intervention Program (minor rotation) is an outpatient parent coaching program designed to support families of toddlers with or at-risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in developing play, communication, social engagement, and imitation skills. The program uses the Project ImPACT curriculum, which has been shown to build skill in young children with ASD and other developmental delays through integrating behavioral and developmental treatment strategies. The program emphasizes active parent participation within and between sessions.
The Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety program (minor rotation) is an outpatient therapy program. The program is aimed to treat youth diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and co-morbid anxiety disorders. This program is currently offered in an individual context via telemedicine. The clinic utilizes the Facing Your Fears Program, which uses cognitive behavioral principles to help youth develop their awareness and insight into their anxiety and/or fears and learn ways to effectively manage their symptoms. The program actively involves parents via a parent education component. This minor rotation is for persons with graduate practicum experience in delivering individual/group therapy to any child/adolescent with or without ASD.