Background: Support from staff plays an important role in quality of life for people with intellectual disability. This study focuses on service users' views of Active Support as good support and whether Active Support increases the quality of everyday support in group homes. Method: Nine service users were interviewed at baseline and at follow-up…

Background: A number of studies of the roles and responsibilities of teaching assistants have been conducted in Australian jurisdictions, but much of this research has been small-scale or geographically localised. Method: The present study was the largest survey conducted in Australia to date and involved a survey of 361 teaching assistants in New…

Background: There is strong evidence about the effectiveness of Active Support. Recent research has established predictors of good Active Support as staff training, practice leadership, and service setting size. This paper explores features of organisational leadership and structures predictive of Active Support. Methods: Multilevel modelling with…

Background: In typical development, primarily contextual factors at the family level are clearly associated with child developmental outcomes. In contrast, knowledge about the contextual factors influencing the developmental characteristics of children (0-12 years) with severe to profound intellectual disability is scarce. Method: Through…

Background: Research indicates the value of active support in achieving good outcomes across a number of quality of life domains for people with intellectual disabilities. However, implementation is not easy, and little research has explored why. We aimed to identify some of the factors that impact on implementation of active support in supported…

Background: Behaviour support plans (BSPs) are at the core of positive behavioural support for challenging behaviour, but nonadherence to BSPs is common. Generally, nonfluent component knowledge prevents learners achieving fluent application and retention of information, and we hypothesised that this may apply to staff learning BSPs. Method: We…

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of a training program focusing on improvement of emotional intelligence (EI) and support staffs' awareness of their behaviour towards people with an intellectual disability based on interactional patterns. The support provided regarding the needs for autonomy, relatedness, and…

Background: Hastings (2010) has recently emphasised 3 aspects in the training of staff who serve clients with mild to moderate intellectual disability and challenging behaviour (CB): Staff attitudes, self-awareness, and clients' perspectives. This study investigates whether programs include these aspects. Method: A systematic search yielded 11…

Background: Often communication training has been directed at the communication practices of staff members working with people with multiple learning disabilities. To date, the thinking habits of staff members, which also influence interactions, have not been addressed. We identified the issues staff members perceived as important for their…

Background: Identifying the factors associated with greater increases in resident engagement has the potential to enhance the effectiveness of active support (AS). Method: Observational data from Stancliffe, Harman, Toogood, and McVilly's (2007) study of AS were analysed to evaluate amount of staff help, effectiveness of staff help, and staff use…

Background: In this study, we describe the experience of participating in interactive training (IT) for active support (AS). Staff (N = 58) working with adults with an intellectual disability (ID) received IT on providing effective assistance for participation in daily activities. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with staff (N =…

Background: Four elementary (primary) school students with severe speech and physical impairments (SSPI) who used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) aids were selected to take part in an intensive, 4-week summer intervention program. The program was designed to explore effective approaches, content and contexts for supporting…