Early
Childhood Focal Question Clinic
The
Early Childhood Focal Question Clinic provides an opportunity
for graduate students in Psychology to receive a closely
supervised experience in learning to perform brief evaluations
of children aged 8 and under. Psychology graduate students
from Yale and other universities are encouraged to apply
to become an Evaluator in the Clinic.
Questions
that may be addressed in this clinic include the following:
- Developmental
evaluations related primarily to developmental delays,
rather than social-emotional issues
-
Second opinion and follow up after a comprehensive evaluation
(including providing interpretation and clarifying feedback
to parents about previous evaluations)
- Re-evaluations
of children whose diagnostic picture is clear
-
Assessments required for private school placement applications
-
Evaluation of intelligence and early achievement, including
screening for neuropsychological difficulties associated
with learning disorders, i.e., visual-motor integration,
central auditory processing, and executive functioning
-
Kindergarten readiness
Evaluators receive a closely supervised experience of learning
psychological and developmental assessment. The entire evaluation
(parent interview, data collection, and parent feedback)
is conducted in front of a one-way mirror. The Evaluators
wear a bug-in-ear device which enables the team behind the
mirror to make comments and suggestions to the evaluator
during the evaluation. Consultation by experts from other
areas (i.e., Speech and Language, Tourette's Syndrome, Autism)
can be facilitated by inviting them to join the consultative
team behind the mirror for specific portions of specific
cases. The Clinic/Seminar members serve as the consultative
team. Direct supervision and teaching for each Evaluator
is provided by a post-doctoral psychology fellow. The faculty
supervisor (Michele Goyette-Ewing) administrates the Clinic,
leads the consultative team, supervises the teaching provided
by the post-doctoral psychology fellow and approves the
final report.
During
the post-doctoral year, each Psychology Fellow in the Child
Study Center's APA accredited Fellowship program will
serve as a direct supervisor to an Evaluator learning to
perform developmental or psychological evaluations. These
Evaluators are typically clinical or developmental graduate
students from the Yale Psychology Department or another
psychology training program. The Post-doctoral Fellow is
responsible for providing teaching around case presentation,
planning the assessment protocol, administration of instruments,
scoring of measures, interpretation of findings, and planning
the parent feedback meeting. The Fellow is also expected
to closely supervise the written report. The faculty supervisor
reviews the report once it is the post-doctoral supervisor
believes it is in final form. The post-doctoral Fellows
also help to facilitate referral of appropriate cases to
the clinic and maintain the clinic schedule. The success
of the clinical training experience is dependent upon appropriate
and steady referrals.
If
you are interested in The Early Childhood Focal Question
Clinic send
a resume and three letters of recommendation to Michele
Goyette-Ewing, Ph.D., Yale University Child Study
Center, 230 South Frontage Road, P.O. Box 207900, New Haven,
CT 06520-7900. If you have any questions e-mail Michele
Goyette-Ewing, Ph.D..
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Last modified:
May 15, 2006
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