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Research Conducted At The Scott Center For Autism Treatment

For all proposed research at the Scott Center for Autism Treatment, written permission from the Executive Director or the Director of Behavioral Services must be obtained and the written permission form must be included in your IRB submission.

To obtain written permission from the Scott Center, Scott Center Request for Research Form must be submitted to the Executive Director or Director of Behavioral Services.

Written requests must include:

  1. Preliminary title,
  2. General description of procedures,
  3. Population,
  4. Number of participants,
  5. Projected duration,
  6. Recruitment flyer.

Additionally, student research must be supervised by a Florida Tech faculty member.

One of the core goals of the Scott Center is the completion of faculty and student research, including theses and dissertations. Faculty, employees (“employee” includes any paid staff member, volunteer, intern, GSA, UGS, workstudy) and graduate students may be provided access to referrals, current clients, and the facility, within reason, when the parameters of the research would serve to further enhance the clinical and procedural standards for clients at the Scott Center, or further to enhance our knowledge in the area.

Access to Clients

Current clients or clients on the waitlist may be recruited to participate in research. This participation must be voluntary and should not interfere with the client’s current behavioral program (arrangement may be made to conduct studies outside of clinic hours). Requests to recruit must be approved by the Director(s) prior to contacting a parent or caregiver. Following approval of the project, the recruitment flyer will be distributed to current and waitlist clients. It is recommended that a meeting between the parents (or guardians), Director, and student be scheduled to discuss the research project prior to the first session; however the Director may speak to the caregiver on the student’s behalf at his/her discretion.

Facility/Materials

The Scott Center facility and materials may be used for research that has been approved. Generally, research not affiliated with faculty, employees or clients of the Scott Center may not be conducted at the facility.

Treatment

Please note that research being conducted with clients or staff may be conducted during scheduled treatment sessions. Typically, those research projects that are clinically relevant to on-going treatment protocols may be conducted during client sessions, per the Director of Behavioral Services and caregiver’s discretion. While the primary investigator arranges the parameters of the research, while occurring under the umbrella of client services, a faculty member, in collaboration with the Program Director(s) must supervise assessment and treatment for the duration of the project. Occasionally, it may be requested that research sessions be conducted outside of treatment sessions. It is important to note that implementation of research protocols, changes to protocols and timelines should be approved by the Director(s).

If it is determined that while the client is appropriate for participation in the study, however the parameters of the research are either far-removed from the current treatment procedures and goals, or would interfere with current programming, research must be conducted outside of the client’s session. The Scott Center facility may still be used in this instance but should be worked around the current room schedule established for clinical services. This is not a billable service for the client and does not count towards a clinician’s billable or contractual hours.

Please note that a student should not decide whether research is conducted during or outside of client sessions; while a student may request the time of the research, it is up to the caregiver and Director(s).

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