University Center for Developmental Disabilities

The University Center for Developmental Disabilities (UCDD) is an exemplary supplemental behavioral intervention program housed on the campus of California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). This program was developed in collaboration with the Inland Regional Center (IRC) and CSUSB to serve children with autism and other pervasive developmental disabilities and their families from throughout Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The program is designed to complement existing programs by providing supplemental training and support services.  UCDD also serves as a teaching and research facility for various CSUSB graduate and professional programs.  Treatment strategies are research based and represent best practice.

Services include direct, one-to-one instruction to children to increase socialization, communication and appropriate behaviors, support activities for parents and siblings, instruction for improved parenting, and activities to enhance the cooperation of schools and agencies that serve children attending the UCDD.  The UCDD program is an individually designed, intense, one-to-one behavioral intervention that utilizes positive behavioral interventions.  Treatment strategies are two-fold: parents participate in a weekly informational and support group led by an UCDD counselor while each child works with his or her teacher on individual goals.  Pre and Post Parent Groups are also offered to families that are on the waiting list for entry into the regular Center program or that have exited the program.  Children typically attend the UCDD program for one session per week for approximately two years.  Programming may also include more frequent participation in Center programming and work within the home or school environment, based on the child’s individual needs.

The UCDD is one of the largest supplemental behavioral programs in the country and currently serves 170 children and their families who each come to the UCDD one time a week for 2.5 hours. In addition, there are another 200 families on the waiting list to receive service. The UCDD has served over 437 families since 1998 and has recently expanded the program by opening a satellite center in the Coachella Valley that provides service to 40 families who reside in the low desert area. The Coachella Valley UCDD program operates in Spanish two evenings each week to better serve the desert communities. One session on the San Bernardino campus also operates in Spanish.

UCDD provides training and paid employment opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students majoring in psychology, social work, health science, nursing, counseling, special education, rehabilitation counseling, human development, and school psychology. The UCDD also provides training, service, and research opportunities for faculty from the same academic programs. Approximately 120 persons, including many CSUSB students, are currently employed part-time at the UCDD.

In addition to direct service provided at the campus, the UCDD has contracted with school districts across the region and state that required specialized training in positive behavioral interventions. These include the Fresno County Office of Education, the Mendocino County Office of Education, Shasta County Office of Education, and local districts in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties. The UCDD has also contracted with the Inland Regional Center to provide specialized training for staff and care providers in the area of sexuality and disability. The UCDD is currently completing a contract to train YMCA staff and age peers in the Coachella Valley so children with challenges can be included in programs offered by the YMCA. Faculty from Social Work, Health Science, Nursing, Special Education, Rehabilitation Counseling, and School Psychology have developed training materials and participated in these trainings.

Finally, the UCDD has served as a research site for the development of the only two nationally normed assessment instruments used in the identification of autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. Both tests, the Gilliam Autism Rating Scale and the Gilliam Asperger's Disorder Scale, were developed at the University of Texas for ProEd Publishing. Currently, three new assessment instruments are under development at the UCDD.