In June of 2020 in response to the murder of George Floyd and the additional atrocities against historically marginalized people and communities across the United States, the Commission on Education (COE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) sought to act within its scope. A retrospective survey (N = 1,692) was developed,…

Introduction: People with intellectual disability (ID) face barriers to accessing mental healthcare. Individuals who have had significant experience in intellectual disability mental health (IDMH) can provide insights into strategies to overcome these barriers. Methods: This historical investigation applied an interpretive descriptive approach…

This is a study of transition to parenthood, one of the least-studied topics in disability research. More than 250 students with special educational needs are followed from their first year of upper secondary school into their mid-30s. Their transition into parenthood is analysed by logistic regression at two ages, at 23 years and at 36 years.…

This paper seeks to examine a number of issues which relate to the provision of appropriate and high-quality residential and community care for people with an intellectual disability. A number of key themes emerging from this Special Issue of the "Journal of Intellectual Disability Research" are identified and explored: (1) normalisation; (2)…

Recently, consensus among researchers and professionals has emerged about factors that contribute to postschool success of youth with disabilities. Prominent among these factors are targeted academic preparation, family involvement, youth empowerment, and service collaboration and linkages. Work experience and paid employment have been identified…

The Youth Villages Transitional Living program is intended to help youth who were formerly in foster care or juvenile justice custody, or who are otherwise unprepared for adult life, to make the transition to independent living. Youth Villages, which serves emotionally and behaviorally troubled young people, operates a number of programs in…

The Affordable Care Act includes many new provisions for long-term services and supports (LTSS). Among these are several new options, improvements, and incentives within Medicaid to balance service systems and expand access to home and community-based services. This article discusses some of the major provisions, implementations, and implications…

Providing and coordinating cost-effective, comprehensive care for older adults who want to remain in the community but need long-term assistance are serious challenges for families and professionals. Addressing these issues will require a redesign of the care delivery system. This article describes two successful models for working with older…

This article presents the author's response to "Excessive Positivism in Person-Centered Planning," by Steve Holburn and Christine D. Cea. The author begins by complementing Holburn and Cea on their courage to voice concerns that perhaps may not appear to be politically correct or perhaps too bold to express in the context of a journal like…

This final report describes the Systematic Integrated Preschool Education Model (SIPE) project, which established classrooms to demonstrate an inclusion model for serving preschool children with severe disabilities. A total of 33 preschool children with identified developmental disabilities and their families in three Virginia school districts…

This report describes several barriers to self-determination for adults with severe disabilities, translates key components of self-determination into guidelines for support providers' practice, provides an example of how support for self-determination was implemented for one woman, and examines unresolved challenges in making self-determination a…

This commentary refutes use of segregation and institutionalization as a legitimate lifestyle strategy for individuals with mental retardation. It contends that advocates of this strategy have never justified its use with valid research and calls for integration that is carefully parsed into its various expressions, the highest form being valued…

This handbook is intended to assist South Carolina parents of children with severe emotional disturbances as they participate in the state's "Continuum of Care" program, which attempts to provide community based treatment in the least restrictive environment for each client. The handbook begins with a letter from a parent of an autistic…

Background: Deinstitutionalisation of services for people with intellectual disabilities has become a focus of disability policy in many countries. Research for the most part supports this strategy. However, outcomes are not uniformly better for everyone who moves to community living. This paper explores reasons for variability in service quality…

This participant's manual covers "Changing Times", the second module of a four-module training program for all individuals employed in programs funded by Oklahoma's Developmental Disabilities Services Division. This includes van drivers, recreation workers, residential staff, administrators, case managers, secretarial/clerical staff,…