Postdoctoral Training
Postdoctoral fellows work in an interdisciplinary setting. They focus on the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental and behavioral concerns.
Our faculty, staff, and trainees are dedicated to upholding principles of cultural and linguistic competence, and we strongly encourage diverse applicants to consider our program.
Individualized Training Plan
You will work with your discipline coordinator to create an Individualized Training Plan to guide your growth in leadership, training, clinical, and research activities. You will also receive dedicated mentorship with a Scholarship Oversight Committee (SOC).
We encourage fellows to develop existing specialty areas and develop new skills in areas of clinical care, research, and advocacy. Therefore, in addition to rotations within your fellowship track, your coordinator will help you select elective rotations and other specialized didactics available at the medical center to supplement your training experience.
Fellowship Tracks
Diagnosis and Assessment Track
The focus of this track is on autism diagnosis and standardized clinical assessment. Your clinical rotation will be within our interdisciplinary Autism Diagnostic Clinic. Research rotations will focus on studies with strong diagnostic and assessment components.
Behavioral Treatment Track
The focus of this track is providing behavior-based intervention to children and families of individuals with developmental disabilities.
Your required clinic-based rotation will be in our two programs that comprise our Behavioral Treatment Program (BTP), which provides direct behavioral interventions for children with challenging behaviors, and our Behavioral Interventions for Families Program (BIFF), which provides parent-mediated behavior therapy to caregivers of individuals with developmental disabilities.
Your community-based rotation will be in our Community Consultation Program, which provides technical assistance and continuing education to school teams and other professionals who are working with individuals with autism and developmental disabilities in the community.
Research rotations will focus on studies that provide behavioral supports to families of children with ASD, schools, and community partners.
Electives
Electives are available in a wide range of areas.
Hospital-Based Clinical Electives
- Infant-Toddler Development Program
Provides developmental follow-up for babies who were hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Fellows on this rotation administer the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development and interact with your children with and without developmental disabilities.
- Pediatric Feeding Disorders Program
Provides behavior-based interventions for children with feeding problems including food over-selectivity, food refusal, disruptive mealtime behavior, and fear of eating after choking episodes. Fellows work with an interdisciplinary team composed of a psychologist, dietician, and speech and language pathologist.
- Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Program
Provides neuropsychological evaluation for individuals suspected of have an FASD. The program also provides caregiver-medicated behavioral and psycho-education around FASD using the Families Moving Forward intervention.
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Parent Training Program
Provides manualized, empirically validated, parent-mediated behavior therapy to caregivers of children and adolescents with ASD and other developmental disabilities. There are two distinct intervention models: 1) Traditional caregiver training designed to reduce non-compliance and challenging behaviors in children 2-16 years old; and 2) An early-intervention model designed to teach caregiver’s skills to facilitate the development of speech, social attention, and play skills.
Please note that electives are also available within our Autism Diagnostic Clinic and Behavioral Treatment Program.
Community-Based Electives
- Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities
SCDD supports independence and belonging for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) across the lifespan. This is accomplished through training, community services, research, and knowledge translation. SCDD emphasizes programs related to Health Equity, Employment, Recreation, and Education, in addition to activities that are driven by community needs. This rotation provides fellows with an opportunity to learn about advocacy and how to initiate and maintain community-based partnerships to improve the lives of individuals with IDD.
Please note that electives are also available within our Community Consultation Program.
Research Electives
- Developmental and Behavioral Research Group
Provides the opportunity to work closely with a research team. Our group is actively involved in research in a wide range of areas including autism treatment (behavioral intervention, community- and school-based programs, mindfulness, pharmacological intervention), core diagnostic features (verbal and nonverbal communication, sensory processing), and contributors to development. We have an ever-changing list of active research studies and there are often roles for fellows.
- Independent Research
Provides the opportunity for fellows to continue their independent line of research. Fellows will be provided with devoted time to work on a research project of their own with the goal of preparing a manuscript for publication.
Educational Experiences