Background: Building Circles of Support is an innovative strategy for developing natural support networks. This study explored some of the ambiguity in the conceptualisations, operational elements, and perceived outcomes of Circles of Support programs. Method: A comparative case study of three Australian Circles of Support programs was conducted.…

Background: Internships may be a successful pathway for increasing employment rates among people with intellectual disability. This paper presents a summative evaluation of a brief film internship program for people with intellectual disability. Method: At the commencement and conclusion of the internship, semi-structured interviews were conducted…

Background: The transition from school to adult life is challenging for young people with intellectual disability. The study aimed to explore how young people with intellectual disability themselves experience the transition from school to adult life. Methods: A co-designed, qualitative study. Thematic data analysis of qualitative survey…

Background: After decades of planning, nurses played a pivotal role in achieving the closure of large residential institutions for people with intellectual disability by 2018. This paper describes the experiences of nurses facilitating the closure of these institutions in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia. Method: An interview-based,…

Background: Australia has limited supports to help families where Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) impacts children and young people. National Organisation for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Australia (NOFASD), in conjunction with the University of Otago, New Zealand, piloted and established a 7-week online program to assist caregivers to…

Background: Research on post-secondary training for individuals with intellectual disabilities has generally focused on programs, with little consideration of the structures and mechanisms that give rise to them. This article adopts a critical realist perspective to comparatively analyse and theorise about the contextual structures contributing to…

Background: This article reports research about the experiences of families with an adult child with intellectual disability as they engaged in the NDIS planning processes in Australia. Method: Parents of 19 adults with intellectual disability responded to a number of closed and Likert-type items and provided comments. Responses are reported using…

Background: Very few studies have evaluated the performance of transition to work (TTW) service providers after the TTW program was implemented in New South Wales, Australia since 2005. This paper examines employment outcomes achieved by 35 TTW service providers in Sydney. Method: Descriptive statistics and chi-square were used to analyse the TTW…

Background: This study investigated the extent to which behaviour support services are accessible under Australia's National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Method: We conducted semi-structured interviews with families who support a member with an intellectual disability and challenging behaviour. We analysed this data with a supply and demand…

Background: Traineeships have been proven to be beneficial vocational pathways for people with intellectual disability however to date the on-the-job training provision associated with traineeships has not been well documented. Method: This study describes components of on-the-job training provided to eight people, most with intellectual…

Background: This study synthesises current literature concerning the barriers to the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) faced by people with intellectual disability and/or complex support needs who are involved with the criminal justice system, or at risk of (re)involvement. Method: Through targeted searches of key databases, 41…

Background: Gaining employment can be challenging for young adults with intellectual disability (ID). This study reports on a mentoring intervention to help counter barriers to employment. Method: A single-group, pre-post design was used. Eighteen young men with mild to moderate ID joined a local Men's Shed and were assigned a Shed member as their…

Background: Research shows that up to 43% of disability support workers (DSWs) report poor psychosocial work outcomes (e.g., stress, job burnout, low job satisfaction). This study examined whether the job demand-control-(support) model offers a valid explanation of DSW burnout and work engagement. Method: 325 DSWs completed online measures of…

Background: "Convivial encounter" provides a new lens for understanding social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, characterised by shared activity and friendly interactions with strangers without intellectual disabilities. Places, props and support practices facilitate incidental convivial encounters. This study explored…

Background: The social relationships model was developed to describe positive relationships between support staff and people with intellectual disability. We evaluated an educational intervention based on this model. Method: Eighteen staff supporting 5 adult service users with severe or profound intellectual disability from 3 day services received…