Dr. Gilbert is an Associate Professor in the School/Community Doctoral Program in Psychology at Hofstra University.  Dr. Gilbert has a Ph.D. in Clinical and School Psychology, and she is a licensed Clinical Psychologist.  She is the Founder and Director of the Diagnostic and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders at Hofstra University.  Dr. Gilbert’s expertise is in the area of developmental disabilities, particularly Autism Spectrum Disorders, early childhood development, and special needs assessment for all ages.  Working with the family as a system is of special importance to Dr. Gilbert as she strives to provide a wide variety of support services for families.

Dr. Gilbert has over 20 years of experience working with children, adolescents, and adults, who have developmental disabilities, such as ASD, in early intervention and diagnostic evaluations, in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, in parent training, in Applied Behavior Analysis, and in research exploring various behavior and language interventions, such as Milieu Communication Therapy. Clinically, Dr. Gilbert utilizes empirically validated interventions, such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapies, in her work with patients with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other comorbid disorders, such as various types of anxiety and depression.  

Dr. Gilbert provides ASD evaluations for people of all ages.  Best practices for the assessment and treatment of ASD promotes the importance of early diagnosis and treatment; however, many adults who currently have ASD remain undiagnosed.  Dr. Gilbert provides evaluations and therapy for adults with ASD so they may develop strategies toward more effective emotional regulation, improve social communication, improve self-esteem, and improve interpersonal relationships.  Dr. Gilbert advocates the importance of utilizing the most current diagnostic measures, such as the premier diagnostic measure, Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, 2nd edition, (or ADOS-2) and the Autism Diagnostic Interview, Revised (ADI-R).  Such extensive evaluations allow for the understanding of strengths and challenges so appropriate goals are established to inform recommendations and evidence based treatments.

Dr. Gilbert has presented her research at various national and international conferences, and has published her work in such journals as the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disabilities, Perspectives on Language Learning and Education, and in books such as AAPI’s Textbook of Autism Spectrum Disorders and Sage’s Handbook of Developmental Disorders.  Her current research interests include early onset predictors of ASD, as well as communication interventions, such as Milieu Communication Therapy, which is a naturalistic, evidenced based language intervention used to increase social pragmatics, such as eye contact, gesture, vocalizations/verbalizations, and overall functional communication. Dr. Gilbert teaches doctoral level courses, such as, Advanced Developmental Theory, Psychopathology of the Emotionally Disturbed Child, Exceptional Child, Assessment and Intervention Strategies, Intellectual Assessment, Practicum Supervision, and Clinical Seminar in Autism Spectrum Disorders.  Dr. Gilbert supervises practicum students in both school and clinical doctoral programs, and she sponsors dissertations for doctoral students in school and clinical psychology.