It is well-recognized that measurement options for diagnosing and monitoring children with neurogenetic syndromes (NGS) associated with moderate to severe intellectual impairment are limited (Berry-Kravis, Dev Med Child Neurol 10.1111/dmcn.13018, 2016), and caregivers experience significant concerns regarding the assessment process. However to…

Background: Organizational culture in group homes for people with intellectual disabilities has been identified as influencing staff behaviour and residents' quality of life (QOL). Despite this influence, culture has been under-researched, with no published and validated instrument to measure its dimensions in group homes. The aim was to develop…

The relationship between turn taking (i.e., back-and-forth preverbal communicative exchanges) and joint attention has not been studied in interactions between children with autism and caregivers. In joint attention, a form of preverbal social communication, young children socially share attention with a partner about objects, a competency that is…

The purpose of this study was to investigate critical independent living skills for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who live in the community and common reasons individuals lose their residential placement. Participants included residential specialists from 26 states who worked at small group homes and supported apartments.…

Carers of autistic adults may experience increased day-to-day stress relating to their caring role. This review aims to (1) summarise the current literature on factors that affect mental well-being in carers of autistic adults and (2) map these results to an existing conceptual model of carer psychological well-being for individuals with…

This phenomenological study (Moustakas, 1994; Peoples, 2020) uses critical disability theory (Devlin & Pothier, 2006) and intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989) as a lens for investigating the experiences of caregivers in a borderland community in Texas during their child's dyslexia identification process. I used Interpretive Phenomenological…

Aggression is a known contributor to burnout and caregiver instability among direct support professionals (DSPs) caring for adults with developmental disabilities. However, few studies have explored the differential effects of aggression subtypes on caregivers and what implications these may have for intervention planning. This longitudinal study…

Community dance has been used as an arts-based approach in healthcare, key for expression in populations who may not typically have access to dance. This study sought to conduct an empirical exploration of family caregivers' perceived psychosocial wellbeing when regularly participating in community dance classes. Community dance can be defined as…

Expanding Quality in Infant Toddler Care is a professional development initiative that is relationship-based on every level. It is administrated by the Colorado Office of Early Childhood. Instructors get intensive training and become members of the Infant Toddler Specialist network. Every level of the EQ Initiative uses an open framework called…

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted university faculty in profound ways, particularly those who are marginalized by gender. While social and institutional injustices have always existed for these faculty, stressors related to caregiving during a global pandemic have exacerbated inequities related to distribution of care work at home and teaching…

This study reports on the results of an online survey of direct support professionals (DSPs) during the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020 to measure their perceived quality of life, stressors, coping/resilience skills, and knowledge of health care rights directly related to the pandemic for the persons that they support. Specifically, we examined…

Background: Organisational culture in group homes for people with intellectual disabilities has been identified as an influence on service delivery and staff behaviour. The aim was to examine patterns of culture across group homes in disability organisations. Method: The Group Home Culture Scale (GHCS) was used to measure staff perceptions of…

Developing transition planning for youth living with severe and persistent mental illness requires the creation, memorialization, and retrieval of appropriate and responsive treatment preferences to meet their needs, especially during a mental health crisis. Regrettably, transition-aged youth at the age of 18 can no longer rely on their support…

Online schooling was implemented as an emergency, and it may have forever tainted our understanding of what online schooling could be, yet despite this harried, often underfunded, under supported, underdeveloped implementation of online schooling improvement occurred and some, perhaps a very small minority, were better served than in traditional,…

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) demonstrate delayed and atypical communication development. These deficits constitute a core criterion for the diagnosis of ASD, though information regarding gestural communication in toddlers with ASD remains limited. The present investigation implemented a robust gesture classification system in order…