Post-doctoral Fellowship in Autism Treatment, Nationwide Children's Hospital

Nationwide Children’s Hospital

Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders

Trueman Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Autism Treatment

The Trueman Fellowship in Autism Treatment is a 2-year post-doctoral psychology training experience based in the Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders (CASD) at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.  This fellowship was developed to provide a unique opportunity for advanced training in evidence-based treatments of autism, across a range of ages, treatment modalities, and levels of functioning, and is conducted in a department rich in resources related to professional development.  Our goal is to train psychologists to demonstrate leadership in the areas of service, training, research, and excellence in the provision of care for individuals with autism and their families.

This fellowship is conducted in connection with the well-established Nationwide Children’s Hospital Psychology Post-Doctoral training programs in Pediatric Psychology and in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, and is offered under the auspices of the Section of Developmental-Behavioral Pediatrics and the Division of Psychology in the Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine at The Ohio State University.  The Hospital is one of the largest pediatric facilities in the United States, and is one of the nation’s largest pediatric providers of mental health services. The Hospital leadership, along with the support of community partners, has selected Behavioral Health to be the focus of the Hospital’s current 5-year strategic plan, and one outcome will be the design and building of a Behavioral Health Pavilion in 2020, which will include acute levels of care, including a DD/IDD inpatient unit. 

The Center for Autism Spectrum Disorders, one program of NCH Behavioral Health, employs 110 staff and faculty all devoted to implementing a wide range of evidence-based interventions for children with ASD and their families.  CASD offers services to children from 18 months to 21 years of age, across the range of the autism spectrum. Services are organized into 4 programs: 

Behavioral Intervention Program: provides early intensive behavioral intervention for both toddlers and young children, behavioral consultation, school consultation, and parent trainingfor all ages

Outpatient Psychotherapy Program: provides individual psychotherapy, family supports, school consultation, social skills groups, and psychotherapy groups to higher functioning clients

Complex Behavior Program: provides both day treatment and community-based behavior support service for individuals with severe problem behavior, with an innovative intensive home-based model of care for families of high-functioning adolescents with complex problem behavior.

Community Outreach Program: provides ASD awareness, seminars, intake and psychoeducational services, group parent training, sibling support, summer camps, and recreational programming.  

This post-doctoral experience will allow for training in this broad range of service options, to provide the fellow with an excellent and broad basis of treatment knowledge (year 1), but also allow for clinical specialization and opportunities to provide supervision and implement program development (year 2).  The Fellowship also allows for additional opportunities to become proficient in diagnostic screening/assessment and cognitive assessment, to conduct research, to perform advocacy and outreach, and to work within a multi-disciplinary team.  

Applicants must have completed all requirements of an APA-approved graduate program specializing in child/adolescence and disabilities experiences, and completed a one-year APA accredited clinical internship. See the APPIC website for more information about the application process at NCH CASD Fellowship info APPIC/UPPD website.