Opportunities

Social Skill Groups

Role of WCU student:Serve as a one-to-one aide for a child with autism. Work on targeted social skills under the direct supervision of a SPARC clinician. All students will receive training before the social skills program begins and ongoing supervision throughout. This is a volunteer position (depending on major and time spent, you may be able to earn some field experience credits).

Time Commitment: 8 weeks, 2-3 hours per week

Peer Buddy Group

Role of WCU student:Serve as a facilitator to one pairing of a typically developing buddy and one child with autism. All students will receive training before the social skills program begins and ongoing supervision throughout (depending on major and time spent, you may be able to earn some field experience credits).

Time Commitment: 8 weeks, 9 hours per week

Peer Mentoring Program

Role of WCU student:Serve as a peer mentor to an adolescent or young adult with autism. This opportunity is purely social in nature and activities engaged in are of mutual interest to the mentor (WCU student) and the mentee (client). This is a volunteer position.

Time Commitment: Once weekly for approximately one hour, about 2 hours per week total. We ask that you commit for one semester, but you can continue past that semester of interest to you. This program is ongoing so we are always looking for peer mentors – every semester: Summer, fall, and spring

If Interested: Please contact Dr. Dawson so that we can set up a time to meet and have you feel out an interest survey so that we may keep your information on file to match incoming clients with.

Practicum Experiences
At this time, we offer the opportunity for students to spend field placements, internships, and practicums at SPARC. Whether this opportunity would be applicable to you would depend on your major and the requirements within that major. If you have questions, it is best to contact Dr. Dawson and your advisor. Psychology students can do Field Experience I and II and Research Experience at SPARC.

We currently have two practicum sites available:

SPARC
Students completing a practicum at SPARC will be involved with all aspects of the clinic: seeing patients, conducting treatment sessions, taking data, analyzing data, creating graphs, writing notes, conducting school/home visits, conducting literature searches, reading relevant articles, attending weekly practicum supervision, and learning assessment techniques. All experiences are supervised by Jennifer Dawson, Ph.D. and/or Cherie Fishbaugh, M.A., BCBA. Students spend approximately 9 hours per week in these activities.

Local Charter School
New this fall, we have created a partnership with a local Charter School (approximately 20 minutes from WCU) in which students will work in the school with children on the autism spectrum. Students will take data, participate in implementation of behavioral protocols, and provide classroom support. Supervision will occur with both SPARC and staff from the school. Students spend approximately 9 hours per week in these activities.

Home Programs
The effectiveness of discrete trial home programs for children with an autism spectrum disorder is well documented. These individualized comprehensive programs focus on reducing negative behaviors as well as increasing a wide variety of skills, including daily living, social, toy play, language, gross motor, fine motor, pre-academic, and academic.

When SPARC establishes a home program for a family with a child with autism, we are always looking for college students to serve as paid therapists for families. Students are directly hired by the family and therefore are actually employed by the parents, not SPARC. All students receive intensive training before beginning to work with the child and receive frequent supervision by Cherie Fishbaugh, MA, BCBA who is the consultant for the program.

Hours available depend on the number of hours the program is set up for as well as how many therapists are working with the family. Pay is usually determined upon prior experience and other related experiences. However, it is important to remember that you do not have to have prior experience.

Home programs are a great way to get experience as well as earn money! In most cases, you must have a car. If interested, please contact Cherie Fishbaugh.

Other Opportunities

Respite Care - SPARC, in partnership with Dr. Corinne Murphy (special education department) will be offering training to students to become trained babysitters for children on the autism spectrum. This training is part of a research grant awarded to Dr. Murphy. Understandably, parents of children with autism often are reluctant to leave their child with a sitter who does not know much about autism and as a result are often unable to leave their children for even short periods of time. We are recruiting students for fall 2008. Students will receive training and certification though the program. During training, families will not pay for babysitting services. However, once you have completed the training, you can be hired by families to babysit for their children.

Family Opportunities - SPARC receives many requests from families who would like to hire a college student for programs that they already have running (not through SPARC). We have a binder of opportunities for students to look through and can contact the parents directly if interested. The binder is kept at the SPARC office in 413 Mitchell Hall.

If you are interested in participating in any of these programs, please contact Dr. Jennifer Dawson or Cherie Fishbaugh at sparc@wcupa.edu