Externship in Autism Spectrum Disorder

School of Medicine

Students will be placed in a combination of VBWC ASD Diagnostic Clinic, VBWC Preschool for ASD, VBWC individual speech & feeding therapy sessions, TRIAD Tadpole ASD clinic, and ASD clinical research labs. Placements will occur Monday through Friday for up to 8 hours per day. Placements across these different clinical opportunities will be individualized for each student based on their background (e.g. previous ASD clinical experiences), training goals, and the availability of student slots within each program. Every effort will be made to try to accommodate each student's existing academic schedule (e.g. any other classes, required meetings or training activities); but it is understood that the Maymester externship is a requirement of the Autism Specialty Track and so must be a priority during May. The primary placement will be the ASD Diagnostic Clinic, and other placements will be added during days / times when the diagnostic clinic is not scheduled. The diagnostic clinic provides foundational experiences for understanding and identifying the features associated with ASD and opportunities for ASD assessment skill building and clinical decision making. For students who complete the ADOS-2 Clinical Training (also part of the ASD specialty Track), the diagnostic clinic provides the opportunity to put skills learned in ADOS training into practice. The clinic also provides exposure to interprofessional practice issues in ASD. Through collaboration between Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center (VBWC) and Vanderbilt TRIAD/Division of Developmental Medicine (DDM), VBWC currently offers comprehensive speech/language evaluations including Autism-specific assessment for patients who meet criteria for participation. Qualifying patients are those who are under six years of age and need differential diagnosis between specific language impairment and language impairment secondary to an Autism Spectrum Disorder. The protocol includes administration of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition (ADOS-2) in addition to an extensive clinical interview, review of medical records, and additional speech/language testing. Students will have various opportunities to observe comprehensive assessments and may assist with collecting information from the DSM V Parent Interview, submit clinical observations, administer and score the ADOS-2 and other standardized language measures, score and document the ADOS-2 administration, and counsel parents re: diagnosis and recommendations. As the ASD diagnostic evaluation can set the stage for a child's entrée into clinical services, students will also be exposed to issues related to ASD services and service planning involving a variety of disciplines.