Drawing from my first-hand observations and embodied experiences of having collaborated with HORA over the course of several years, this paper discusses an under-investigated area within the field of disability and performance: pioneering work by directors and with learning or cognitive disabilities, an area which has not yet been addressed in the…

Background: Neuropsychological tests of memory are believed to offer the greatest sensitivity at identifying people at the risk of developing dementia. There is a paucity of standardized and appropriate neuropsychological assessments of memory for adults with an intellectual disability. This study examines how adults with an intellectual…

Background: Information and communication technologies, with the Internet at the forefront, have the potential to enhance the knowledge, service, employment, development and social interactional opportunities available to people with intellectual disabilities. Despite this, people with intellectual disabilities are not accessing the Internet to…

Background: Adults with intellectual disability are affected by dementia at equivalent and elevated rates, many surviving into advanced age. End of life care and support considerations come into play among these individuals when most are in the advanced stage of dementia. Methods: A preliminary report summarizing available literature and making…

Background: The nature and quality of end-of-life care received by adults with intellectual disabilities in out-of-home, non-institutional community agency residences in Western nations is not well understood. Method: A range of databases and search engines were used to locate conceptual, clinical and research articles from relevant peer-reviewed…

Some children with Down syndrome may experience difficulties in recognizing facial emotions, particularly fear, but it is not clear why, nor how such skills can best be facilitated. Using a photo-matching task, emotion recognition was tested in children with Down syndrome, children with nonspecific intellectual disability and cognitively matched,…

Young adults with intellectual disability (ID) continue to experience the least successful postschool outcomes among transition-aged youth (Sanford et al., 2011). Experts disagree on the most effective approach to improve outcomes such as employment, postsecondary education, and community living. In 2015, the National Goals Conference brought…

As adolescents with intellectual disability (ID) transition to adulthood, there is a need to plan for effective community-based supports that address the post-school life. There is also a need to plan for the impact of factors (e.g., medical/behavioral support needs) on supports needed for community participation. Data from the "Supports…

A phonological similarity effect (PSE) in adolescents with an intellectual disability (ID) has previously been shown with auditory stimuli, but studies using visual stimuli are scarce. In the case of visually presented items, PSE requires verbal recoding before it appears. Using visual items, we trained 15 participants with ID to use rehearsal…

Students and adults with intellectual disability experience multiple barriers to taking tests, assessments, evaluations, questionnaires, and surveys. The literacy demands of common formats for soliciting objective and subjective feedback -- particularly written questions and answers -- makes typical assessment processes inaccessible to many people…

Objective: This study assessed a new Speech Generating Device (SGD) for supporting request responses in five participants with intellectual and multiple disabilities. Methods: The technology involved a smartphone, a series of mini objects or of cardboard chips with pictures, and special software. When the participants placed one of the mini…

This paper discusses possibilities of designing ethical research practice in relation to people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD). We will argue that in the case of this group of people, research ethics is about ethically justifiable research aims, design, methods, and practices that are based on the recognition of their…

Background: People with intellectual disability have a limited understanding of dying and death. The role of parents in developing the understanding of their son or daughter with intellectual disability about these concepts is unclear. This study aimed to explore parental experiences when talking with their son or daughter with intellectual…

Background: Children with an intellectual disability (ID) have complex health needs that extend beyond the expected cognitive deficits, affecting a myriad of developmental domains. These children frequently receive inadequate health care such that their needs remain poorly managed. Methods: Staff from the Sydney Children's Hospital Network (N =…

Background: Retrospective parental reports have often been used to identify the early characteristics of children later diagnosed with a developmental disorder. Method: We applied this methodology to document 13 parents' initial concerns about the development of their 17 children later diagnosed with fragile X syndrome (FXS). Parents were…