Leadership/Advocacy
HSDD 5110 - Grant Writing (3 credits)
Students in this course will learn the basic principles of grant writing and will develop the critical thinking and writing skills required to effectively define a problem or recognize an opportunity (Assessment), map a viable plan (Proposal Writing), weigh funding options and create funding relationships (Grant Development) and communicate information and leverage collaboration (Report Generation).
HSDD 5120 - Leading for Change in Disability Services (3 credits)
This course will examine the role that public policies currently in place play in providing quality services to individuals with developmental disabilities, as well as analysis of the costs of these services. Organizational factors will examine the impact of program administration in public and private agencies servicing individuals with disabilities. Also, the design and evaluation of community-based services are addressed.
HSDD 5130 - Trends and Issues in Disability Advocacy (3 credits)
This course provides insight into disability policy through the examination of policy making. The course will focus on different political/ideological approaches to disability policy. In addition, examines how the federal government addresses discrimination against individuals with disabilities in public (e.g. transportation, housing education, and employment). Participants will gain basic skills and knowledge in: contextual analysis; problem/issue identification; analysis and prioritization; power mapping; goal/objective setting; analysis of advocacy arenas and strategies; message development, writing reports and working with the media; engaging in public outreach and mobilization; lobbying and negotiation; advocacy leadership and coalition building; and assessment of program success.
Adult Services/Transition
HSDD 5310 - Aging and Disability Across the Lifespan (3 credits)
This course will provide an interdisciplinary focus on aging and disability from different theoretical perspectives. The dynamics of aging across the lifespan will be addressed and specific challenges faced by young adults, middle age individuals, and older adults with developmental disabilities will be reviewed. Students will be able to apply knowledge obtained to specialized population and be able to assume leadership roles and engage in support efforts for these individuals as demonstrated through paper and presentations.
HSDD 5320 - Students with Disabilities in Higher Education (3 credits)
Examines the experience of students with developmental disabilities in higher education and crucial components related to their full participation in college life. Knowledge of demographic trends of students with developmental disabilities in higher education, awareness of important transition issues of students from K-12 to postsecondary education, strategies for increasing retention, and understanding the different types of accommodations typically required of students with developmental disabilities will be covered.
HSDD 5330 - Employment and Independent Living (3 credits)
This course provides an analysis of the integration of individuals with developmental disabilities into the community and within institutions. Challenges faced by individuals with developmental disabilities in obtaining and maintaining employment and independent living will be addressed as well as strategies for promoting successful community integration.
Early Childhood
HSDD 5410 - Early Identification and Assessment of Developmental Disabilities (3 credits)
This course will provide students with the opportunity to obtain knowledge of the assessment, evaluation, and diagnostic skills of young children with developmental disabilities from an interdisciplinary perspective. Risk factors and early warning signs of atypical development will be reviewed. Students will be exposed to commonly used assessments to identify developmental delays in various fields and will be exposed to different diagnostic approaches such as the DSM-IV, ICD-10, and Zero to Three. Prerequisite: HSDD 5000.
HSDD 5420 - Early Intervention in Developmental Disabilities (3 credits)
This course helps students apply their knowledge of challenging behaviors such as aggression, self-injury, tantrums, etc. and of different modalities of intervention typically applied with individuals with developmental disabilities such as developmental (speech, physical, occupational), behavioral [Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), Relationship Development Intervention (RDI), and Floortime], and educational supports through case analysis and discussion. Factors that contribute to treatment success will be addressed. Prerequisite: HSDD 5000.
HSDD 5430 - Integrating Children with Disabilities in Educational Settings (3 credits)
This course will focus on historical approaches to the education of children with disabilities. It will address current models utilized in educational settings such as inclusion, mainstreaming, and self-contained classrooms. Supports that can be provided to children with developmental disabilities to promote successful educational outcomes will be assessed. The common approaches to providing supports including individualized education plans, frequency assessments of behavior, behavioral intervention plans, and the role that they each play in the educational system will be critiqued. Prerequisite: HSDD 5000.
Applied Behavior Analysis Concentration Courses
The Association for Behavior Analysis International has verified the following courses toward the coursework requirements 
for eligibility to take the 5th edition Board Certified Behavior Analyst® examination. Applicants will need to meet additional requirements before they can be deemed eligible to take the examination.
For those interested in learning and understanding the BCBA certification requirements, please visit the Behavior Analyst Certification Board's website: https://www.bacb.com/.
Click HERE for more information about the BCBA examination pass rate. Please note, pass-rate data are not published for sequences with fewer than six first-time candidates in a single year or for sequences within their first four years of operation.
HSDD 0711-Concepts and Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis I
This 45-hour graduate-level course is Part I of a two-part series of ABA concepts and principles. Students will study the philosophy and science of applied behavior analysis, an overview of the field of ABA, basic vocabulary and concepts in the field, and basic strategies for increasing and decreasing behaviors of students in a variety of settings. Specifically, this course covers the following BACB Fifth Edition content areas: A: Philosophical Underpinnings and B: Concepts and Principles.
Prerequisites: None
HSDD 0712 – Concepts and Principles of Applied Behavior Analysis II
This 45-hour graduate-level course is Part II of a two-part series of ABA concepts and principles. Students will study the science of applied behavior analysis, the field of ABA, basic vocabulary and concepts in the field, and basic strategies for increasing and decreasing behaviors of students in a variety of settings. Specifically, this course will cover Unit B: Concepts and Principles from the BACB Fifth Edition task list.
Prerequisites: HSDD 0711
HSDD 0721 – Applied Behavior Analysis Assessment and Application
This 45-hour graduate-level course will delve into the application of the concepts and principles of applied behavior analysis. It will focus on the current research on behavior assessment strategies, behavioral intervention strategies and change procedures, and methods of accountability in ABA interventions. This course covers BACB Fifth Edition Task List content areas: F: Behavior Assessment, G: Behavior-Change Procedures, and H: Selecting and Implementing Interventions.
Prerequisites: HSDD 0711 & HSDD 0712
HSDD 0731 – Applied Behavior Analysis Assessment and Delivery Models
This 45-hour graduate-level course will focus on conducting behavior analytic assessments in order to identify targets for behavior change programs. Additionally, the class will explore the variety of delivery models for services within the ABA model. Specifically, the delivery models of behavioral medicine, treatment of autism/developmental disabilities, organizational behavior management, and education will be examined. This course covers BACB Fifth Edition Task List content areas F: Behavior Assessment, G: Behavior-Change Procedures, and H: Selecting and Implementing Interventions.
Prerequisites: HSDD 0711 & HSDD 0712
HSDD 0741 – Evaluating Interventions in Applied Behavior Analysis
This 45-hour graduate-level course will focus on evaluation strategies used in research and in the ethical provision of interventions. This course covers the following BACB Fifth Edition content areas: C: Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation and D: Experimental Design. Mastery of this content allows for critical evaluation of research literature resulting in evidenced based decision making on assessment and intervention strategies across a variety of populations.
Prerequisites: HSDD 0711 & HSDD 0712
HSDD 0751 – Supervision and Management in Applied Behavior Analysis
This 45-hour graduate-level course will focus on applied behavior analysis supervision and management of behavior change agents. It will address the components of effective supervision, as well as the development of performance monitoring, reinforcement, and feedback systems. In addition, focus will be placed on the role of assessment in supervision and management. This course covers the following BACB Fifth Edition content areas: F: Behavior Assessment and I: Personnel Supervision and Management.
Prerequisites: HSDD 0711 & HSDD 0712
HSDD 0791 – Ethical and Professional Issues in Applied Behavior Analysis
This 45-hour graduate-level course will focus on the ethical practice of applied behavior analysis across clinical, research, and professional settings. It covers content area E: Ethics (Professional and Ethical Compliance Code for Behavior Analysts) from the BACB’s Fifth Edition Task List. Students will evaluate common ethical dilemmas that arise during clinical research and practice in applied behavior analysis and identify and apply strategies and guidelines for resolving ethical issues.
Prerequisites: HSDD 0711 & HSDD 0712
Applied Behavior Analysis Elective Practicum – Optional – (9 Credits)
HSDD 0760 - Practicum in Applied Behavior Analysis I (Elective, 3 credits)
This introductory practicum is designed to meet the supervision requirements for the BCBA or BCABA certification. Students must be engaged in practicum activities at least 20 hours per week in a job that requires the application of ABA principles. Supervision will take place weekly in both group and individual formats and will address both increasing and decreasing behaviors. Students will be expected to collect and share data on their cases and employ strategies of behavioral assessment and intervention with input from their supervisor. Prerequisite: HSDD 0710.
HSDD 0770 - Practicum in Applied Behavior Analysis II (Elective, 3 credits)
This course is designed to continue the supervision begun in HSDD 760 and has similar requirements. Students will be expected to provide written reports and intervention plans as part of their supervision. Students must be engaged in practicum activities at least 20 hours per week in a position that requires the application of ABA principles. Supervision will take place weekly in both group format and individual formats and will address both increasing and decreasing behaviors. Prerequisite(s): HSDD 0710, HSDD 0760.
HSDD 0780 - Advanced Practicum in Applied Behavior Analysis I (Elective, 3 credits)
This advanced practicum is designed to meet the supervision requirements for students seeking their BCBA and will continue the work begun in the previous two practicums. Students must be engaged in a position requiring the application of ABA principles at least 20 hours per week. Supervision will take place weekly or bi-weekly in a group or individual format and will address both increasing and decreasing behaviors. Students will be expected to collect and share data on their cases and employ strategies of behavioral assessment and intervention with input from their supervisor. Prerequisite(s): HSDD 0710, HSDD 0770.
Child Life Specialist
*Please be advised that students completing the Child Life Specialist concentration cannot be placed in internship sites within the states of North Carolina and New York due to state licensure regulations.
2019 Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP)
Exam Eligibility Requirements
childlife.org/certification
| MIN # OF CLASSES REQUIRED BY THE ACLP FOR CHILD LIFE PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION EXAM ELIGIBILITY |
SUBJECT |
NSU CHILD LIFE SPECIALIST COURSES |
| 1 |
Child Life |
HSDD 5510 Foundations in Child Life and Family Centered Care
|
| 2 |
Child Development |
HSDD 5522 Theories of Child Growth and Development
HSDD 5523 Theories of Adolescent Growth and Development
|
| 1 |
Family Systems |
HSDD 5518 Family Systems and the Hospitalized Child |
| 1 |
Therapeutic Benefits of Play |
HSDD 5532 Therapeutic Benefits of Play
|
| 1 |
Loss/Bereavement or Death/Dying |
HSDD 5534 Death and Dying
|
| 1 |
Research |
HSDD 5100 Program Design and Evaluation
|
| 3 |
Additional courses in child life or related content area |
HSDD 5515 Ethics in Child Life
HSDD 5530 Interventions in Child Life
HSDD 5525 Medical Terminology for the Child Life Professionals |
|
Clinical Training Requirements:
Internship/practicum candidates may elect to request approval to complete university-affiliated training. Affiliation agreements between the training site and NSU must be established, prior to internship/practicum.
- Internship: Students must successfully complete 600 hours supervised clinical hours at a University approved site under the direct supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist, who has a minimum of 4,000 hours of paid child life clinical experience prior to the start of the supervisory period.
- Practicum: Students must successfully complete a minimum of 100 hours supervised clinical training at a University approved site under the direct supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist, who has achieved a minimum of 2,000 hours of paid work experience in the field. (Please note practicum training is not required to establish eligibility for the Child Life Professional Certification Examination)
|
HSDD 5510 - Foundations of Child Life and Family-Centered Care (3 credits)
This course will provide an introduction to the spectrum of child life practice in direct and non-direct services in pediatric health care including a historical review of the profession and its development in the evolution of children's healthcare. Students will develop an understanding and affirmation of the values of supporting individual development, family-centered care, therapeutic relationship and developmentally appropriate communication. Additionally, students will learn to represent and communicate child life practice and psychosocial issues of infants, children, youth and families. This course will provide students with the knowledge and effective strategies to assess and support healthy interactions between families and outside institutions. Continuous engagement in self-reflective professional child life practice will also be a focus of this course.
HSDD 5515 - Ethics in Child Life (3 credits)
This course will provide students with the insight necessary to identify and manage ethical and professional issues within a multidisciplinary approach in clinical and research settings. Students will learn the ethical and legal issues surrounding healthcare, including transition of pediatric patients to adult healthcare; medical treatment; and medical technology, including: advance directives and living wills, resource allocation, transplantation issues, withholding and termination of treatment, and death and dying. Both the ethical and legal perspectives regarding how to support patients and their family members when making challenging medical choices will be explored. The official documents of the Association of Child Life Professionals (ACLP) including the Code of Ethical Responsibility, Child Life Competencies and Standards of Clinical Practice, the Child Life Mission, Values and Vision Statements, and the Code of Professional Practice and their role in ethics will also be addressed. Students will also develop the ability to evaluate child life services and make recommendations for program improvement. As part of this course, teaching and supervision of students and volunteers will be addressed.
HSDD 5518 - Family Systems and the Hospitalized Child (3 credits)
This course will provide students with in-depth training regarding family systems and their importance when working with children and families in healthcare settings. Focus will be placed on the family as a social system. We will discuss family relationships; the historical and contemporary theories related to family structure and functions; adaptations in family structure and interaction patterns; diverse family systems; parenting, caregiving and family life from a cross-cultural perspective; adult-child interactions; and exploration of current research and theory as it applies to family systems.
HSDD 5520 - Child and Adolescent Growth and Development (3 credits)
This course will examine issues in human development that are especially relevant to infants, children and adolescents. It is designed to present theory, research and evidence-based practice concerning the physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development of children. Typical versus atypical developmental progress, as well as factors that threaten to impede typical development will be addressed. This course will also emphasize cultural competence when working with children and families in a collaborative context.
HSDD 5522 - Theories of Child Growth and Development (3 credits)
This course will examine theories of human development that are especially relevant to infants and children in early and middle childhood. Students will learn psychoanalytic, social learning, behaviorist, ecological, humanistic and psychosexual theories and will apply these theoretical perspectives to child growth and development. This course is also designed to present research and evidence-based practice concerning the physical, cognitive, emotional and social development of children.
HSDD 5523 - Theories of Adolescent Growth and Development (3 credits)
Adolescent Development reviews the physical and sexual, cognitive, emotional, moral and social growth and development of young people as they transition between the immaturity of childhood and the maturity of adulthood. We will view adolescence from a scientific (rather than intuitive) research perspective within the context of the adolescents’ lives. This requires a multi-disciplinary approach with input from the sciences of psychology, biology, sociology, anthropology and the disciplines of education and history. A critical examination of theories, methods of research, and findings from current research on human growth and development will assist in this review.
HSDD 5525 - Medical Terminology for the Child Life Professional (3 credits)
Students participating in this course will receive an introduction to medical terminology, designed to increase familiarity with medical terms while reviewing basic anatomy and physiology; an introduction to medical procedures and diagnoses; and will discuss ways to explain common tests, procedures, and diagnoses to children of different developmental levels and children with developmental differences.
HSDD 5530 - Interventions in Child Life (3 credits)
This course will introduce students to theories and intervention techniques that help children and families cope with stress from hospitalization or other life events that disrupt normal development. Strategies to assist with issues such as pain management; adjustment to chronic illness and long-term hospitalization; and adherence to medication management and routine medical care will be covered. Students will learn to assess and implement developmentally appropriate interventions, based on empirical data, to create individualized treatment plans in collaboration with the treatment team. The central role of play therapy in child life services will be emphasized, along with the provision of a safe, therapeutic and healing environment.
HSDD 5532 - Therapeutic Benefits of Play (3 credits)
This course will provide students with training necessary to identify and understand the therapeutic benefits of various types of play. We will discuss the classical and contemporary theories of play, assessment of children’s understanding using play, play principles and values, the role of play in the development of children, the structure of therapeutic play sessions, promoting creativity in play, providing guidance of play in a therapeutic context, the function of play in curriculum and program development, and the therapeutic benefits of play for the hospitalized child.
HSDD 5534 - Death and Dying (3 credits)
This course provides students with training regarding theories related to death and dying, developmental understandings of death and dying, and provision of interventions when working with the child and family experiencing death and dying. We will examine the cultural context of death and the effect of death upon surviving family members. This course will also cover historical and ethical viewpoints, along with exploration of one’s own reactions to death, dying and bereavement.
HSDD 5535 - Child Life Practicum (3 credits)
Students are required to complete a specified number of hours of child life clinical experience at a selected agency working under the supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist who meets specific qualifications at an approved setting. Students will need to complete a minimum of 100 hours in 14 weeks, completing 8 hours a week. During that time, the student is expected to increase his or her competence in the areas of observation, child life assessments, developmental theory integration, therapeutic play interventions, and rapport building.
It is mandatory that students enrolled in this course will meet in “live” sessions via GoToTraining/GoToMeeting on a biweekly basis, for two hours, on a day and time to be determined by both the instructor and the students enrolled in this course. Prerequisite(s): HSDD 5510, HSDD 5515.
HSDD 5550 - Child Life Internship I (3 credits)
Students will be required to successfully complete a specified number hours of child life clinical experience under the direct supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist who meets specific qualifications at an approved setting. During that time, the students will be expected to increase their competence in the areas of basic interviewing, assessment, and intervention skills. Furthermore, integration of ethical, legal, and professional issues inherent in child life service delivery will be addressed. Best practice and conflict resolution issues will also be incorporated. Prerequisite(s): HSDD 5510, HSDD 5515, HSDD 5532.
HSDD 5560 - Child Life Internship II (3 credits)
Students will be required to successfully complete a specified number hours of child life clinical experience under the direct supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist who meets specific qualifications at an approved setting. During that time, the students will be expected to increase their competence in the areas of basic interviewing, assessment, and intervention skills. Furthermore, integration of ethical, legal, and professional issues inherent in child life service delivery will be addressed. Best practice and conflict resolution issues will also be incorporated. Prerequisite(s): HSDD 5510, HSDD 5530, HSDD 5550.
Child Life Specialist Internship Information
Internship:
Students may elect to complete their internship at an NSU approved child life specialist site. During their training, students are expected to complete a minimum of 600 clinical training hours under the supervision of a Certified Child Life Specialist. NSU's clinical training representative is available to assist students in securing internship opportunities.
Certification:
The child life concentration offered in the M.S. in Developmental Disabilities program is designed to prepare students for certification as a child life specialist. For detailed information regarding certification requirements and application, please visit the Child Life Council.