University Forms Autism Training Hub to Close Gaps in Services
A comprehensive autism initiative at the Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology brings training to the masses
It’s been more than 80 years since the “father of child psychiatry,” Leo Kanner, made the first clinical diagnosis of autism. For most of that time, education and services have taken place in a vacuum, with researchers zeroing in on specific causes, lifespans or demographics.
The Autism Training Hub, an initiative at the Rutgers Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology, aims to consolidate this knowledge into one setting.
Lara Delmolino, the director of applied and academic autism services and an associate dean at the graduate school, said the goal of the hub is to connect professionals and programs with students and the community to leverage Rutgers’ expertise in autism research and clinical application.
“While public awareness of autism has grown and diagnoses have increased, professional preparation has often developed in silos, limited to specific disciplines or stages of life,” Delmolino said. “The Autism Training Hub seeks to address that fragmentation to support an autism-informed professional workforce across disciplines and across the lifespan.”
The goal of the Autism Training Hub is to help employers, educators, students and clinicians find and access trainings designed to deepen support for neurodivergent individuals along the autism spectrum. The hub soft launched this spring and plans additional expansion by the year's end.
The initiative reflects a broader shift in autism education toward lifelong learning, recognizing that professionals often seek new competencies at multiple points in their careers rather than through a single, linear pathway. For instance, an educator may seek strategies for creating inclusive classrooms, or a clinician may need diagnostic certification. The hub can provide both.
“The hub is about making autism-informed training visible, connected and available at every stage of a professional career,” Delmolino said. “It acknowledges that careers evolve. Training must, too.”
The hub, combining new and existing elements of the graduate school – including the Rutgers Center for Adult Autism Services and the Douglass Developmental Disabilities Center, which focuses on childhood needs – will offer courses and programs to improve the quality of life for autistic individuals at home, in the classroom, during leisure and on the job as well as offer evidence-based, practical training for the professionals who support them.
New Jersey has some of the highest rates of autism prevalence in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While autism isn’t a new disorder – Kanner made his diagnosis in 1943 – the field has largely focused on children. Rutgers and the graduate school, through initiatives such as the hub, are working to expand research and clinical services onto the adult autism population, while highlighting disparities that exist in underserved communities and making services accessible to those who are profoundly impacted.
“Autism as a field has focused on childhood for a very long time,” said Vanessa H. Bal, the Karmazin and Lillard Chair in Adult Autism at the graduate school. “But children grow up. The needs of adults are going unaddressed.”
That reality hits hardest as children approach what insiders call the “service cliff.” In New York and New Jersey, state education and health departments support children with autism, but at age 21, the support ends. Parents are left to navigate social security, guardianship and Medicaid largely on their own. The Autism Training Hub will serve as a resource for struggling families.
Within the hub, Rutgers’ adult services are integrated into a broader system that includes college transition, employment and mental health care, reinforcing the idea that adulthood isn’t an endpoint, but part of the lifespan.
Autism as a field has focused on childhood for a very long time. But children grow up. The needs of adults are going unaddressed.
Vanessa H. Bal
Karmazin and Lillard Chair in Adult Autism
One area of focus for the hub will be preparing psychologists and psychiatrists in adult autism diagnostics. A shortage of certified specialists means that adults seeking a first diagnosis often have no option but to visit a pediatric autism clinic, which can result in possible misdiagnosis by practitioners not trained to diagnose autism in adults. A hub course, “Adult Autism Assessment: Considerations for First Time Diagnosis,” led by Bal in early April, was so popular that another one is being offered in late June.
Training will be another focal point. While the graduate school and its affiliated centers have long offered autism-related education – including doctoral and master’s programs, clinical practica, professional workshops, diagnostic certifications and community consultations – the hub will make them more accessible to nonpsychology students and the public.
“We are also continuing to build partnerships with other professional training programs, ensuring that medical professionals can receive hands-on experience providing care to individuals with high support needs,” Delmolino said.
With in-person and online programs, the hub will function as a centralized portal where students, professionals and community members can identify, and access, autism-focused courses and seminars.
“No matter your profession, understanding autism makes you a better colleague, leader and human,” Delmolino said.
