Interprofessional Care Coordination for Pediatric Autism Spectrum Disorder: Translating Research into Practice

This book addresses the importance and relevance of interprofessional care coordination for children and youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It covers the role of interprofessional collaborations across various settings for multiple service provision purposes. The volume examines interprofessional collaboration among professionals across such broad issues as screening, evaluation, intervention, and overall care management of ASD. In addition, the book explores more narrowly focused issues, such as providing transition services during early childhood and young adulthood, culturally responsive practice and advocacy issues for individuals with ASD from diverse backgrounds, and providing care for individuals with ASD and co-occurring trauma. Finally, the book concludes with the editors’ recommendations for future directions in interprofessional care for pediatric ASD.

Topics featured in this book include:

• Autism screening tools and interdisciplinary coordination of the processes.
• Dell Children’s (S)TAAR Model of Early Autism Assessment.
• The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM).
• Transition from early schooling for youth with ASD.
• Postsecondary and vocational opportunities for youth with autism.
• Transitioning from pediatric to adult medical systems.
• International perspectives in coordinated care for individuals with ASD.
• Psychopharmacology of ASD.

Interprofessional Care Coordination for Pediatric Autism Spectrum Disorder is an essential resource for researchers, clinicians and professionals, and graduate students in clinical child and school psychology, social work, behavioral therapy and related disciplines, including clinical medicine, clinical nursing, counseling, speech and language pathology, and special education.

Maryellen Brunson McClain, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Utah State University. She is also core faculty with the Utah Regional Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (URLEND) program. Dr. McClain’s research, clinical, and teaching interests are related to autism spectrum disorder and related neurodevelopmental disorders. She is particularly interested in assessment considerations, interprofessional coordinated care, measure development, and appropriate assessment and identification of culturally and linguistically diverse children. Dr. McClain earned a BA in Psychology from the College of Wooster and a PhD in School Psychology from Indiana University. Dr. McClain completed her APA-accredited predoctoral internship at the University of Tennessee Professional Psychology Internship Consortium at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC). She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in developmental disabilities at the Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities (BCDD) at UTHSC. Dr. McClain is a licensed psychologist in the state of Utah. She was a LEND trainee as a graduate student (Riley Hospital for Children), a pre-doctoral intern (UTHSC), and a post-doctoral fellow (BCDD).

Jeffrey D. Shahidullah, PhD, is an assistant professor of psychiatry within Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin). He is also an adjunct assistant professor of school psychology within the College of Education at UT-Austin. He is co-director of research for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. Dr. Shahidullah holds the Health Service Psychologist (HSP) and Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) credentials. He is a pediatric psychologist within a Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics clinic at Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas and UT Health Austin. He also provides consultative telephonic support for mental/behavioral health concerns to rural primary care practices and schools as part of state-funded telemedicine initiatives, Texas Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN) and Texas Child Health Access through Telemedicine Program (TCHAT). Dr. Shahidullah earned a BA in psychology and EdS in school psychology from Baylor University. He then earned a PhD in school psychology at Michigan State University. He completed his APA-accredited predoctoral internship at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and postdoctoral fellowship at Geisinger Health System, both in pediatric psychology. While at CHOP, he was a Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) fellow. Previously, he was an assistant professor within the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University – New Brunswick, where he also held an adjunct appointment as assistant professor of pediatrics at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Dr. Shahidullah’s clinical, research, and training interestspertain to integrating behavioral health services within schools and primary care settings. He is also interested in models of interprofessional training and collaboration among healthcare providers. He is co-author of the Handbook of Pediatric Behavioral Healthcare: An Interdisciplinary Collaborative Approach, which is also published by Springer Publishing Company.

Katherine R. Mezher, PhD, is an Assistant Clinical Professor and the School Psychology Program Coordinator, in the Department of Educational Psychology at Miami University (Oxford, Ohio). She received her PhD in School Psychology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Dr. Mezher completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Kelly O'Leary Center for Autism Spectrum Disorder at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center and is a licensed psychologist in the state of Ohio. While at Cincinnati Children's Hospital, she was also a fellow in the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopment and Related Disabilities (LEND) interdisciplinary training program. Dr. Mezher’s interests include early intervention, autism spectrum disorder and developmental disabilities, service coordination, and individual academic and behavior interventions in school settings. She has taught 10 courses at Miami, including but not limited to behavior intervention, psychoeducational assessment, education of individuals with exceptionalities, autism trends and research, and educational research. She currently also serves as the School Psychology Internship Coordinator.