Background: Active Support is a staff practice that aims to increase engagement of people with intellectual disabilities. This study seeks to: (1) identify the outcomes of staff using Active Support and how these are measured; (2) identify how the views of people with intellectual disabilities have been included in Active Support research. Method:…

Background and Aims: Students with intellectual disability benefit from high-quality instruction in reading and mathematics. Methods: This Theoretical Paper outlines the need for effective, evidence-based instructional practices for this population and the potential for observation research to inform such advancements. We report our systematic…

Background: To support people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD), it is essential to understand how they experience their environment. Insight into perception behaviour may provide an entry point for improved understanding. Materials and Methods: A random sample of a 30-min video registration of five participants with PIMD…

Background: People with severe and profound intellectual disabilities often spend substantial time isolated and disengaged. The nature and quality of the support appears to be important in determining quality of life. Methods: Structured observations and staff questionnaires were used to explore the quality of life and quality of support for 110…

Background: The natural response to the intrusive bodily sensation is positional change. This study explored how children and young people (CYP) with intellectual disabilities had their comfort needs met when using adaptive positioning equipment. Methods: Thirteen qualitative case studies were undertaken. A parent, a teacher/key worker and a…

Promoting community participation for people with intellectual disability through encounter with strangers is an integral part of the mission of disability support workers. This paper offers detailed micro-level analysis of the practices of support workers when they accompany a person with intellectual disability outside their home and explores…

Background: People with intellectual disabilities have a shorter life expectancy, but healthcare improvements mean that they are beginning to live longer, with associated health difficulties. This means that there is an urgent need to focus research on ageing as well as end-of-life care. This study aimed to explore a specialist intellectual…

Background: By utilizing grounded theory methodology, this study attempted to fill a gap whereby little research explored family caregiving perspectives in China where public support is insufficient and familial responsibility is highly valued. Methods: Data were collected through the qualitative methods of interviews and observations among a…

Background: Social interaction is integral to social inclusion. Little is known about the nature of social interaction between adults with severe intellectual disability and those with whom they engage. Method: Participants were six adults with intellectual disability and people identified as those with whom they shared demonstrable pleasurable…

Background: This study investigated associations between the presence of a child with autism or Asperger's disorder in the family, family functioning and grandmother experiences with the goal of better understanding grandparent involvement in the lives of grandchildren on the autism spectrum and their families. Methods: Mothers and grandmothers of…

Background: One of the most mentioned problems of web accessibility, as recognized in several different studies, is related to the difficulty regarding the perception of what is or is not clickable in a web page. In particular, a key problem is the recognition of hyperlinks by a specific group of people, namely those with intellectual…

Background: Studies of engagement in meaningful activity often focus on a short period during the afternoon. The question arises whether this produces different results from studies covering the whole day. Methods: Data collected for 18 individuals using a 20-s momentary time-sample from 08:00 to 19:00 over a number of days for each person were…

Background: Affective and reciprocal interactions with others are essential for persons with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD), but it is a challenge to assess their quality. This study aimed to investigate the usefulness of instruments from parent-infant research to evaluate these interactions. Method: Eighteen videotaped…

Background: Adults with severe challenging behaviour can achieve good "quality of life" outcomes in small supported accommodation services. Yet, the research indicates that they typically experience poorer outcomes than other adults with intellectual disability. This raises questions about the degree to which research has informed…

Background: A training package for staff working with clients presenting challenging behaviour was developed to (1) increase their knowledge regarding challenging behaviour, and (2) to improve the quality of physical intervention techniques. The latter aim was intended to reduce staff anxiety about dealing with incidents and limit physical risk of…