Behavioral inflexibility (BI) has been highlighted to occur across genetic and neurodevelopmental disorders. This study characterized BI in two common neurogenetic conditions: Fragile X syndrome (FXS) and Down syndrome (DS). Caregivers of children with FXS (N = 56; with ASD = 28; FXS only = 28) and DS (N = 146) completed the Behavioral…

Education is a fundamental right of all, guaranteed in the Brazilian constitution and in the legislation of several countries in the world. In Brazil, Special Education targets people with disabilities and global developmental disorders. A disabled person needs certain supports, the demands for which are varied. One such demand relates to people…

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are often excluded from research that concerns them due to diverse ethical and methodological issues. This paper provides strategies for how to include children with IDD as active participants of research, an issue which to date has received little attention in the research methods…

Background: Responses to digital cognitive training interventions vary greatly among children with intellectual and developmental disorders (IDD). Investigating possible predictors of improvements following training is vital in ascertaining which individuals benefit from these interventions. Methods: Seventy-three children (4-11 years) with IDD…

Purpose: A systematic review was performed to determine the extent to which orthographic facilitation, a strategy to improve word learning, has been demonstrated in the literature for children and adolescents from clinical categories such as developmental language disorders (DLD), autism spectrum disorders (ASD), Down syndrome, dyslexia, hearing…

Research suggests spending time outdoors and with natural materials can benefit all young children across different areas of development. However, children with developmental disabilities often have fewer opportunities to engage with nature as a result of the limited understanding and negative views about nature expressed by their caregivers and…

Background: Sleep hygiene education (SHE) is a familiar intervention for addressing behavioural sleep problems in children with developmental disabilities that involves advising parents on sleep-promoting behaviours; however, it is supported by a limited evidence base. Materials and methods: This exploratory study aimed to enhance qualitative…

Background: Inter-professional collaboration (IPC) has been recommended for many years as a means by which the needs of children with developmental language disorders (DLD) can be met at school. However, effective IPC remains difficult to achieve and our knowledge of how to support it is limited. A shared understanding between those involved has…

Interdisciplinary dialogue can help progress and improve professional fields. Progress and improvement may be impeded by barriers within an interdisciplinary dialogue, two of which are false dichotomies and faulty generalizations. It is our opinion that this particular interdisciplinary dialogue will advance productively by avoiding: false…

Although the importance and influence of spirituality in the lives of youth and young adults have garnered much attention, few studies have focused on the religious and spiritual lives of young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). We examined the congregational activities, spiritual practices, and strength of religious…

Supporting families who have family members with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) as they move through life is a critical need (Reynolds, Palmer, & Gotto, 2018). The phrase, "supporting families," juxtaposes the typical family support paradigm in response to the ongoing shrinkage of federal and state dollars and the…

This article provides six fundamental steps for using a task analysis to teach emergent literacy skills to young learners with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Compared to general education peers, students with ASD score lower on reading measures and often have difficulty acquiring literacy skills via the instruction methods used in typical…

This study used qualitative multiple case study analysis to explore community inclusion implementation among developmental disability service providers in Massachusetts. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (and its affirmation of community inclusion in Olmstead vs. L.C., 1999) set the stage for rights-based understanding of community…

The Autism Collaboration, Accountability, Research, Education, and Support Act of 2019 was put in place to amend the Public Health Service Act to enhance activities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) with respect to research on autism spectrum disorder and enhance programs relating to autism, and for other purposes. The Act includes the…

We describe a study of the internet-based Parent-Implemented Communication Strategies--Storybook (i-PiCSS), an intervention designed to train and coach parents to use evidenced-based naturalistic communication teaching (NCT) strategies (i.e., modeling, mand-model, and time delay) and RTs while reading storybooks with their young children with…