For the past year, I have worked as a research assistant and consultant to a federally funded treatment development study known as CSBI (Comprehensive School Based Intervention). This program is an adaptation of Connections, a summer social development program for children with high functioning autism spectrum disorders (HFASDs). The program placed me directly in the schools working with teachers, related service staff, and the children themselves. The program is designed to teach children with HFASDs key social skills that will help them function in the school setting and beyond. While Connections is a very important summer program, much research has focused on the need for teaching social skills directly in the child’s typical school day. CSBI is unique in that social skills intervention, a response cost behavior plan, and emotion recognition training is worked into the child’s every day schedule. CSBI teaches social skills to children by using Skillstreaming. Skillstreaming is a tool that uses teacher modeling of specific skills, student role-playing, group performance feedback and transfer training (practicing the skills at home and in the community). Each child received 90 minutes of Skillstreaming each week (30 minute sessions, 3 times per week). A speech teacher, school psychologist, or school counselor typically ran these sessions. Children were also provided with unique opportunities to practice specific social skills throughout the week through therapeutic activities. These activities were built around the social skill of the week and the children were encouraged to use the newly learned skill. Furthermore, children also received exposure to MindReading, an interactive computer game which teaches face and emotion recognition. The program is supported with a response cost behavioral plan known as an individual daily note (IDN). On this plan, each child has roughly 4 identified target areas. Examples may include, eye contact, calm body, and being actively involved. The target will be defined at the top of the plan saying something along the lines of, “no more than 2 reminders to be actively involved.” Each time the teacher notices the child not being actively involved she will mark a tally, if the child goes over the allowable quota, he/she will receive a no for that interval. The number of yes divided by the total will then be calculate for the day and a percentage will be created. The children have a reward program at home for different percentages. This program allows the staff to directly focus on key areas.

As a research assistant and consultant in the program, I played an active role within the schools and as a member of the research team. One of my main tasks was to gather fidelity data. Fidelity serves two main purposes to monitor proper implementation as written by the manual and to assess the necessary dosage of treatment. Fidelity made up a large portion of my responsibilities within my two assigned schools. Nevertheless, an even more challenging and novel task was assisting and training teachers in the program. Having participated in the summer program, I had a large amount of knowledge to draw upon. However, working within the schools opened my eyes to the unique balance that exists in the world of consultation. Working with teachers is a process that one must not take lightly. The first month or so was very challenging in that many of the teachers were still struggling to implement the program. In September, I had to play a very large role in assisting and teaching many of the educators in each building. This responsibility was challenging but also very rewarding. At the start of the winter months, I could feel a genuine trust and appreciation from the teachers. This partnership really helped deliver the best possible treatment for the children involved in the study. It also taught me a lot about how to consult and interact in the school systems.

Not only was I involved within the classroom setting, but I also played a large role in the research component of the study. Each Friday, the group held supervision meetings to discuss child progress. Graphs of fidelity data, child progress by target, and overall progress were made and discussed weekly. This experience provided me with an invaluable opportunity to take part in a major research study. I feel that it strongly prepared me for graduate school and solidified my interest in perusing further studies in school psychology. I also gained added confidence by discussing and problem solving specific problems and situations with a research team.

Throughout the year, I became a member of each classroom I worked in. The children came to know me by name and were genuinely excited to see me. The most rewarding aspect of this practicum was observing the changes that occurred as a result of the program. Children that struggled to follow the behavioral plan and lacked many social skills showed vast improvement toward the end of the year. Being a part of such changes and contributing to the betterment of a child’s life was an experience that will stay with me forever.

Overall, I have gained important knowledge in consultative skills, as the school-based program requires frequent collaboration among teachers, administrators, and related service providers. As a consultant, I helped model appropriate language and educate teachers on proper implementation. I also gained experience in assessment. In the program, I administered such tests as the; Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition, Self-Report of Personality (BASC-2 SRP), Diagnostic Analysis of Nonverbal Accuracy-Second Edition (DANVA-2), and the Cambridge Mindreading Face-Voice Battery for Children (CAM-C). I also learned the importance of frequent fidelity assessment. This is not only important for facilitator adherence and dosage information, but when used in combination, these two techniques strengthen intervention as a whole. Fidelity assessments lead to more productive and evidenced based consultation, and with a strengthened team, we could implement a more successful program. Thus, my work in the CSBI program continuously contributed to the improvement of overall intervention strength and efficacy. Due to my intense involvement with this research project, my knowledge and experience in the many roles of a school psychologist grew and developed.

I would recommend this practicum to anyone that is seriously considering pursuing studying school psychology in the future. While it is a large time commitment, the benefits, experiences, and knowledge that you will gain are invaluable.