Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Track

APPIC Program Match Number 150914

The Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) track offers training focused on children either with or suspected of an intellectual or developmental disability.  Training opportunities are rich and varied, with emphasis on interdisciplinary evaluations, empirically based treatments, and comprehensive psychological assessments.  There are three openings for an IDD intern.  Training includes traditional supervision, problem-focused case conferences, a treatment seminar, and an ongoing professional development series with invited speakers and guests.  Interns closely interact with other trainees including pre-doctoral interns, post-doctoral fellows, psychology practicum students, speech pathology trainees, medical students, and pediatric residents and fellows.

Settings
Interns provide most of their clinical work at the Child Development Center (CDC), an interdisciplinary clinic.  Interns also receive training in an Intermediate Care facility and at medical subspecialty clinics on the Nationwide Children's Hospital Main Campus.

Assessment
Interns work as part of an interdisciplinary team (Developmental Behavioral Pediatrician, Pediatric Neurologist, Speech Therapist, Nursing, psychometrician), evaluating children suspected of autism or developmental delay.  Interns then complete a full psychological assessment to further document the child’s functioning and generate recommendations for services.  Interns also complete psychological evaluations of children with other intellectual and developmental disabilities.  Participation in occasional hospital inpatient consultations will occur throughout the year.  Consultations typically are involve decisions about the appropriateness of placement in an intermediate care facility and medical complications occurring  among children with developmental disabilities.

Treatment
Special training opportunities focused on behavioral therapy for children with developmental disabilities also is an integral part of training.  Treatment experiences are ample and will cover a wide range of presenting problems including diagnoses such as Autism Spectrum Disorder, Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders, Down Syndrome, Anxiety Disorders, and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder as well as a variety of other internalizing and externalizing disorders.  Referrals more common among children with intellectual and developmental disabilities are highlighted experiences during the internship training year and include treatment of feeding problems, aggression, self-injury, sleep problems, and toileting and other gastrointestinal issues. Treatment cases may also involve habilitative interventions for adaptive behavior, language development and alternative communication systems, school and academic interventions, and early intensive behavioral intervention for autism.  both Treatment in an evidence based group therapy setting for children with intellectual disabilities and co-morbid behavioral problems is also available. Treatment services are also interdisciplinary emphasizing combination and adjunctive treatments with opportunities to collaborate with physicians on medical management, with clinical social workers on family therapy, Board Certified Behavior Analysts on behavioral interventions, and community-based therapists on psycho-education programs. Interns will provide outpatient and community-based treatment services throughout the year..

Clinic Experiences
IDD interns provide psychological services for several hospital-based medical clinics.  Typical responsibilities include brief psychological testing and behavioral consultation.  Current clinics with IDD Internship Track involvement are:

• Down Syndrome Clinic
• Neurodevelopmental Clinic
• Developmental Disabilities Clinic
• Bowel Management Clinic for Children with IDD
• Feeding Clinic (IFEC)
• Heinzerling Foundation (ICF/MR) facility

CDC Psychology also provides support for Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s International Adoption Clinic and Prader Willi Clinic.  CDC also collaborates with Pediatric Neuropsychology to provide developmental assessment for Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Neonatal Follow-Up Program.  Interns may accept referrals from these clinics.

Supervision
Besides traditional one-to-one supervision, IDD interns participate in two other educational conferences.  The first is the bi-weekly Clinical Case Problem Conference that requires the interns to present assessment cases to other trainees and all of the CDC faculty and an opportunity to receive feedback about assessment procedures, interpretation of results, and ideas for recommendations.  The interns attend and participate in all case conferences, and present two cases during the internship year.  The second experience is the weekly Treatment Seminar.  Treatment Seminar includes discussion and presentation of empirically based treatment programs and an opportunity to discuss the application of EBTs to the interns’ specific case load.  

Advocacy
Interns also participate in advocacy activities including attending presentations, assisting with a lecture, or making school visits on behalf of a client.  CDC Psychology supports outreach clinics to rural and Appalachian counties in Ohio through direct service and tele-psychology services. All CDC faculty are strongly invested in advocacy efforts for their patients.  Interns may incorporate different advocacy efforts into their training year.

Autism Treatment Network Involvement
In January 2011, Nationwide Children’s Hospital CDC was selected to join the Autism Treatment Network (ATN), the nation's first network of hospitals and physicians dedicated to developing a model of comprehensive medical care for children and adolescents with autism.  The ATN offers families care from clinicians highly experienced in helping individuals with autism and providing treatment for associated conditions such as gastrointestinal and sleep disorders.  The ATN also coordinates a patient registry database of clinical data about autism families and patients used to evaluate and track patient care in network facilities.  Being part of the ATN provides CDC faculty and trainees access to registry data and the opportunity to propose research studies.

Hours
IDD interns work five days per week.  There is no “on call” coverage and interns typically work 40-50 hours per week.   Interns are required to work one evening per week.

• Robert Arendt, Ph.D.
• Eric Butter, Ph.D.
• Rebecca Hellenthal, Ph.D.
• David Michalec, Ph.D.
• James Mulick, Ph.D., BCBA-D
• Megan Norris, Ph.D.
• Caroline Murphy, Ph.D.
• Micheline Silva, Ph.D.
• Michelle Spader, Psy.D.

• Behavioral therapy experience.
• Psychological assessment with young children (1.5 – 5 years)
• Prior work with intellectually and developmentally delayed children
• Have participated in evidence based parent training therapy