Purpose
The center is designed to:
- Serve as a training facility for graduate students in the School Psychology Program
- Provide a service to children, families, and schools
- Assist faculty in contributing scholarship to the field of school psychology
Services:
- Educational and psychological assessments of children, adolescents, and young adults with learning and/or behavioral problems
- Consultation
and counseling to parents concerning remediation and treatment of
children’s academic difficulties and/or problem behaviors
- Consultation to schools, outside agencies, and other concerned professional personnel
- Short-term treatment of children’s learning and behavior problems
- Identification of disability and giftedness
The
primary role of the Child Study Center is to provide pre-service
practicum experience and training in psycho-educational assessment and
intervention to school psychology graduate students. Under the direct
supervision of the school psychology faculty, graduate students
complete educational and psychological evaluations and interventions as a
service to children and parents.
The Child Study Center
provides direct service from mid-January to mid-August each year and
takes referrals at any time during the year. The center is open Monday
through Thursday (call the center for hours of operation) to:
- Accept referrals
- Schedule appointments
- Communicate with parents and schools
Clinic
evaluations are typically conducted on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday
afternoons during the Spring semester and Tuesday through Thursday
mornings in the summer. Evening appointments with parents are scheduled
as needed.
For assistance, parents should call the CSC
during normal business hours; administrative assistants will be
available to accept new referrals. School personnel wishing to refer a
student should recommend that parents contact the center for an
appointment. All information is strictly confidential.
The
Child Study Center has a fee of $75 to cover basic operations costs;
however, the fee may be waived and donations are accepted.
Call
724-357-2445 for more information on services provided by the Child
Study Center. Office hours for the Child Study Center are Monday through
Thursday from 9:00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.
Brief History of the Child Study Center
The
school psychology post-masters program began around 1968. During the
early 1970s, the dean of the College of Education, George A.W. Stouffer,
suggested that Dr. J. W. Bahn consider a clinic for children. At the
time, Bahn was the director of the school psychology program and had
concerns about where students could gain clinical experience. During
this time, the university had only two clinics: Speech and Hearing
Clinic and Psychological Clinic.
A child study clinic
would serve two primary roles. First, it would serve as a place where
school-aged children could be evaluated and counseled. Second, it would
serve as a facility for school psychology students to receive
experience.
The Child Study Center was initiated without a
budget and was housed in Davis Hall. There were several testing rooms,
but no one-way glass for observation purposes. The clinic was only open
on Saturday and in the evenings. All of the young students from the
University School were tested for school readiness, as well as testing
and counseling students who were having educational and/or behavioral
problems. Parents began seeking clinics outside the school system to
test their children. Testing and counseling children as well as
counseling parents soon became known throughout the county.
The
Child Study Center moved from Davis Hall to Stouffer Hall, where it now
resides, at the time Dr. Bahn left the Educational Psychology
Department.