Autism Spectrum Disorders

The Advanced Certificate in Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) was developed to provide additional education and training to post-baccalaureate students to enable them to work with autistic people, as well as their families, at a heightened level of expertise. CSI's Advanced Certificate Program in ASD prepares special education teachers and other professionals to better support autistic people. It also provides entry-level students with an advantage over other applicants when seeking positions in organizations that provide educational, vocational, and life-skills support.

Because collaboration across disciplines is essential to the development of our understanding of autism, course materials cover a variety of theoretical perspectives and methodologies. By exploring a broad range of topics and perspectives, students will develop a richer knowledge of autism to collaborate more effectively with people on the spectrum, their families, and professionals from other disciplines as they approach their work with children, adolescents, and adults on the spectrum.​

We expect students with a bachelor’s degree in various majors/tracks to be interested in this Advanced Certificate program. We anticipate interest, especially from students with backgrounds in education; psychology; behavior analysis; physical and occupational therapy; speech-language pathology; sociology; Science, Letters, and Society (SLS); and/or art therapy.   Because collaboration across disciplines is essential to the development of our understanding of autism, course materials cover a variety of theoretical perspectives and methodologies. By exploring a broad range of topics and perspectives, students will develop a richer knowledge of autism to collaborate more effectively with people on the spectrum, their families, and professionals from other disciplines as they approach their work with children, adolescents, and adults on the spectrum.

Requirements for CUNY Students to Register for ASD Courses:

1. An applicant must have completed, as a minimum, an undergraduate degree in psychology, education, speech-language pathology, Science, Letters, & Society, or a related field, or be a current student in a Master's degree program (e.g., Education, Mental Health Counseling, Neuroscience & Developmental Disabilities). Additional coursework may be required to make up for any deficiencies in background, as will be determined by an admissions committee for the program. (The admissions committee comprises faculty members from the School of Education and the Psychology department.)

2. An applicant must have earned a baccalaureate degree with a grade-point average of at least 3.0 in the undergraduate major and a minimum overall grade-point average of 3.0. Applicants whose undergraduate grade-point averages are below the minimum of 3.0 may submit a letter of appeal to the program coordinator; however, such appeals will be granted only under extraordinary circumstances. Applicants appealing for admission must present documentation demonstrating their ability to succeed in the program and may be required to take additional credits in undergraduate liberal arts and science courses, as prescribed by the program coordinator, in which they must earn grades no lower than 3.0 (B).

Double Counting Policy 

The undergraduate students satisfying the following criteria may be granted permission to take up to two graduate courses (to fulfill their 300- or 400-level elective requirements in Psychology) at undergraduate tuition to be counted towards their bachelor’s degree. These graduate courses will be double-counted toward their Autism Spectrum Disorder Certificate program. This allows students to earn both the bachelor’s and the advanced certificate in ASD in 4.5 years.  All graduate courses in the ASD Certificate Program can be taken as double-counting courses. 

Criteria: 

• Current enrollment in bachelor’s degree in Psychology and successful completion of three years of study with 90 or more earned credits. 

• Cumulative GPA 3.0 or above. 

• Permission from the coordinator of the graduate program and the department chairperson. 

• Application for admission and conditional acceptance into the ASD Certificate Graduate Program. 

The application materials include 2 letters of recommendation, a letter of intent, and a transcript.