Cynthia Johnson, PhD
Pediatric Psychology
Highlights
Age Groups Seen
- Child
- Adolescent
Languages
- English
Gender
FemaleAbout Cynthia Johnson
Biography
Cynthia Rheney Johnson, PhD is the Director of the Cleveland Clinic Center for Autism and a Professor of Pediatrics at the Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University. She is a licensed psychologist and a board certified behavior analyst – doctoral level. She is a Fellow of Division 33 (Intellectual Disability and Autism Spectrum Disorder) of the American Psychological Association. Dr. Johnson received her PhD from the University of South Carolina. She completed a fellowship at Johns Hopkins University / Kennedy Krieger Institute.
Dr. Johnson has provided program development, clinical care and clinical supervision for youth with autism for over 30 years. Additionally, Dr. Johnson has been the principal investigator of numerous multi-site NIH-funded and other federally-funded research grants with much of this research focused on treatment development and randomized clinical trials. She was a primary developer of the parent training intervention used in both the Research Unit in Pediatric Psychopharmacology and the Research Unit for Behavior Intervention consortiums. More recent research has focused on feeding and sleep issues in autism. Recent NIH funding involves development of a measure of insomnia in autistic children and expanding her sleep intervention research in a large clinical trial.
To read more of Dr. Johnson's publications go here: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/cynthia.johnson.1/bibliography/public/?sortby=pubDate&sdirection=ascending .
Locations
- Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital for Rehabilitation
- 2801 Martin Luther King Jr Drive, Cleveland, OH 44104
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Education & Board Certifications
Education
- Fellowship: Johns Hopkins Hospital, 1990
- Medical Education: University of South Carolina, 1989
- Residency: Children's Village, 1985
- Graduate School: University of South Carolina, 1985
- Undergraduate: College of Charleston, 1983
Board Certifications
- Board Certified Behavior Analyst: Behavior Analyst Certification Board, 2014
Professional Highlights
- American Psychological Association Division 33 - Fellow
- American Psychological Association Division 33 - President Elect (2025-2026) and Program Chair
Additional Training
Research trained in gold standard autism assessments.
Awards
- International Society for Autism Research member - 2000-present
Innovations & Patents
- Pediatric Autism Insomnia Rating Scale (PAIRS) - Scahill, Lecavalier & Johnson
Research & Publications
See publications for this provider. (Disclaimer: This search is powered by PubMed, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. PubMed is a third-party website with no affiliation with Cleveland Clinic.)
Industry Relationships
Cleveland Clinic physicians and scientists collaborate with industry to advance medical breakthroughs. These partnerships help commercialize discoveries for public benefit while maintaining scientific integrity. To ensure transparency and minimize potential bias, Cleveland Clinic reviews these relationships and publicly discloses when physicians/scientists receive significant compensation for consulting, serve in fiduciary roles, receive royalties, or hold equity interests related to their work. We manage potential conflicts through approval processes, annual reporting, and targeted management plans.
As of 2026-03-20, Dr. Johnson has reported no financial relationship with industry that is applicable to this listing.
In general, patients should feel free to contact their doctor about any of the relationships and how the relationships are overseen by Cleveland Clinic. To learn more about Cleveland Clinic's policies on collaborations with industry and innovation management, go to our Integrity in Innovation page.
Public Health Service-Reportable Financial Conflicts of Interest. Cleveland Clinic scientists and physicians engage in basic, translational and clinical research activities, working to solve health problems, enhance patient care and improve quality of life for patients. Interactions with industry are essential to bringing the researchers' discoveries to the public, but can present the potential for conflicts of interest related to their research activities. Click here to view a listing of instances where Cleveland Clinic has identified a Public Health Service (PHS)-Reportable Financial Conflict of Interest and has put measures in place to ensure that, to the extent possible, the design, conduct and reporting of the research is free from bias.
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