Society often holds strongly biased and stigmatized opinions when it comes to what is deemed appropriate or inappropriate for the sexual behavior of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) or developmental disabilities (DD). This is typically due to the beliefs that the ID/DD population are either only capable of having child-like…

The telehealth model can allow for cost-effective supports in areas where limited applied behavior analysis (ABA) services are available. As a result, e-learning programs for parents of children with autism have become part of the telehealth paradigm. In the Czech Republic, one of the many places where there are limited ABA supports and no…

The prevalence of late language emergence (LLE) in young children is high, comprising 10 to 20% of toddlers. Late language emergence refers to children who do not use at least 50 single words and 2-word phrases at the age of two. Current best practices for the under-three population with or at risk of having disabilities include the use of…

The purpose of this study was to understand caregivers' experience of participating in a caregiver-mediated in-home feeding intervention, the Engaged Eaters Program, for their young autistic child. This qualitative study utilized a thematic approach to analyze post-intervention semi-structured interviews with thirteen mothers of autistic children…

Family training, in which providers coach parents to use intervention strategies with their child, is considered evidence-based and best practice for families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Parents generally value family training, but this service is underutilized in community-settings and many parents report it as an unmet need.…

Caregivers can experience significant challenges following their child's autism diagnosis and often seek informational, relational and emotional support. Post-diagnostic support for caregivers has received relatively little research attention and represents a significant gap in the international evidence base. We used an iterative codesign process…

Family involvement is a cornerstone of early intervention (EI). Therefore, positive caregiver outcomes are vital, particularly in caregiver-implemented interventions. As such, caregiver instructional approaches should optimize adult learning. This study investigated the comparative efficacy of coaching and traditional caregiver instruction on…

There is limited evidence on the imperative role that caregivers play in social-emotional learning development for effective social-emotional learning program implementation despite their crucial influence on childhood development. This doctoral project explored the effects of parent education for two school-based, social-emotional learning…

In formal care organizations, personal support workers (PSWs) provide the most daily direct care to people living with dementia. PSWs receive the least comprehensive education and have the fewest opportunities for continuing education compared to nurses and physicians. PSWs need to be provided with opportunities for continuous education programs…

Early intervention with parent participation is important for facilitating skill development in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, many barriers delay or prohibit families from accessing care. We describe the development and acceptability of a novel, comprehensive, self-directed online program for caregivers of children with…

The Caregiver Skills Training programme is an evidence-informed group intervention developed by the World Health Organization to counter the treatment gap for neurodevelopmental disorders in children. We examined feasibility and acceptability of Caregiver Skills Training in public child neuropsychiatry services in Italy. Following a formative…

High quality, easily accessible professional development is needed to ensure that service providers are well-qualified to facilitate early intervention (EI) that targets caregiver learning during visits with children and families. This research evaluated a multi-component, technology-mediated inservice training course entitled, "Using Adult…

The World Health Organization's Caregiver Skills Training programme for children with developmental disorders or delays teaches caregivers strategies to help them support their child's development. Ethiopia has a severe lack of services for children with developmental disorders or delays. This study explored the perspectives of Ethiopian…

This study explores the learning of volunteer end of life caregivers (EOLCG). Using the profound learning framework, the researchers will use a grounded theory approach to generate transferable characterizations of how learning occurs for EOLCGs and what the content of that learning is. As a unique population of adult learners who perform an…

Dog Tag Inc. is a nonprofit organization that seeks to help veterans, their spouses, and those who serve as their caregivers reintegrate into civilian life. The organization runs the Dog Tag Inc. Fellowship Program, a five-month entrepreneurial fellowship program designed to accelerate reintegration into civilian entrepreneurial and employment…