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ISU Alumni Dr. Cy Nadler: Helping Kids and Families with Autism

January 23, 2025

Dr. Cy Nadler, who graduated from Idaho State University in 2012 with a degree in clinical psychology, is making a big difference in the lives of kids and families. He works at Mercy Clinic in Kansas City, the largest hospital in the area, where he helps children with autism. Dr. Nadler also teaches, trains future doctors and psychologists, and works on important research projects.

Feeling at Home at ISU

Nadler said he chose ISU because the faculty research and interest aligned with his passions.

“It was easy to feel at home in the Psychology Department,” Nadler says.

His mentor, Dr. Mark Roberts, had a huge impact on his education.

“Besides having a fantastic primary mentor, all the faculty were available to help me and my colleagues regarding our professional journeys.” 

Dr. Roberts’s primary focus was work on disruptive childhood behaviors, for example, aggression, tantrums, and non-compliance in young children. Nadler said that that was fascinating to him. “My relationship with Dr. Roberts was foundational to my development as a clinician as well as a researcher,” he says. For Nadler, that close relationship influenced him to choose that line of work as well. 

“My experience at ISU has had a positive impact on how I approach clients, for instance, being passionate about helping the kids and families that I work with,” he says. “It is a real opportunity to work towards helping kids to be more successful when they are very young and hopefully overcome the challenges that they face across their lifespan including better academic and vocational success.”

Additionally, Nadler works with the children’s families. “Working with parents of very young kids is an important opportunity to change their whole life trajectory,” he says. “I got excited about the opportunity of being a psychologist and making a difference in a family’s life and a child’s life in the long term.”

Nadler says that a big part of the psychology programs was applied hands-on learning. “Getting practical experience, supervision, mentorship, and support from a variety of professors helped all the students to improve their clinical skills.” 

Building a Career

After graduation, Nadler completed an internship in Nebraska, where other ISU students had created a pipeline. At a conference with Dr. Roberts he was able to make connections at Children’s Mercy Kansas City, which led to his postdoctoral job there. Now he works at the same hospital, where he’s proud to welcome other ISU graduates to his team. “I’m honored to say that we have had multiple ISU students who have come through our program,” he says.

What Does Cy Do?

“I wear a lot of different professional hats,” said Nadler. He delivers direct clinical service, is also a professor of pediatrics through their affiliated school of medicine, and as a result, supervises both psychology and medical training as students are learning to deliver care. In addition to all these responsibilities, he is also busy leading research projects to find better ways to help kids with autism and other challenges. Some of his work is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

One ongoing project that he is working on is helping to evaluate and understand the effectiveness of the clinical care Mercy provides. They have developed group care training models that they want to make sure are effective in their communities. 

“The faculty at ISU was so committed to making all students in the program successful and as a result, I continue to apply this in my career as well.” Nadler says he strives to maintain a commitment to students to ensure that they can advance in their careers and expand access to care. “As much as I am glad that I can provide clinic service, if I can train more people to do that, I am really saving the community over the long call.”

Another area of research is helping kids with behavioral problems, autism, and other disabilities. Nadler says ISU taught him the importance of using research to guide his work. He learned to combine clinical care and research, which he now uses every day. “You can’t have one without the other,” he explained.

Advice for Students

Nadler knows graduate school can be demanding and hard to balance, and that as a professional, the demands only increase over time. “It’s okay to feel stretched and stressed but you have to develop strategies that work for you to be able to manage that,” he says. He also says that students should make choices of their priorities. Nadler also pointed out that it is beneficial to identify people in the world who are doing what is interesting and exciting in their field because this can help them to understand how to get there. 

A Growing Field

“For better or worse there is a huge need for more mental health providers in our country,” said Nadler. He pointed out that across-the-board mental health is a growing industry, whether someone is more interested in the clinical side, research, or anything in between. “ISU opened every door for me,” he says. “There are lots of opportunities in this field.”

Dr. Cy Nadler is the Josh Barnds and Stella Carlson Endowed Professor for Autism at Children's Mercy Kansas City. He directs clinical programs and community outreach focused on autism and neurodevelopmental disabilities and conducts research on health and behavioral outcomes for youth and families in the neurodevelopmental disabilities community.

Story Contributor Suparna Sinha is a PhD Student and Graduate Teaching Assistant at Idaho State University. She is an international student from India, and is currently in her fifth semester of study. Her areas of interest include Postcolonial Eco-Feminist Literature and Dalit Literature. She has presented in international conferences like the DEI in Education conference held at ISU, the54th and 55th NeMLA Conventions, the WLA 2023, and the IGC conferences in 2023 and 2024. Her hobbies include solving cryptic puzzles, writing articles on positivity in her blog, and knitting.


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