Doing a Pre-Doctoral Internship at the DDDC
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey is among the places you should consider if you want to develop a sophisticated grasp of the use of applied behavior analysis (ABA) teaching methods for people with autism spectrum disorders. The Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center is an on-campus facility that serves children, adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders. We use a broad range of ABA technology to serve those learners and their families. We support one pre-doctoral school psychology intern at the Center every year through Rutgers’ School Psychology Internship Consortium. The internship also provides the opportunity to accrue a portion of the hands-on fieldwork required for board certification in behavior analysis.
The training model for pre-doctoral interns who work at the DDDC involves primarily hands-on clinical work for one year. You would do some direct work with children, adolescents and adults, and provide classroom consultation to teachers about challenges in skill acquisition and the reduction of behavior problems. Additionally, you would consult to public school classrooms serving children on the autism spectrum through the DDDC’s Outreach division. The role is very structured with ample supervision by Dr. Kate Fiske and Dr. Debra Paone, both of whom are Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) and licensed psychologists. Additionally, you would be supervised by the capable behavior analysts who oversee the DDDC classrooms. Upon completing the school psychology internship, your fieldwork hours would make up a portion of the hours you need to be eligible to sit for the Board Certification in Behavior Analysis (BCBA) exam, and you will have completed the pre-doctoral hours required for New Jersey state licensure.
We accept one pre-doctoral intern at the DDDC every year. Potential and current GSAPP students who are interested in a practicum placement at the DDDC should contact Dr. Kate Fiske. More information on the GSAPP School Psychology Consortium can be found here.