Background: Leadership is crucial for frontline managers leading direct support staff in intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) services because it impacts both the staff and service users. Method: A systematic review using CADIMA software, guided by the 2020 PRISMA statement, analysed 32 articles from Scopus, WOS, PsycINFO and EBSCO…

Behaviour support plans (BSPs), if accurately implemented, have been found to increase skills and decrease challenging behaviour of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Training is essential for staff to acquire the skills necessary for accurate implementation. The aim of this systematic literature review was to evaluate…

Side by side with awareness of the rights of people with disabilities, attention is now focusing on the caregivers of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and on how they enhance the quality of life of this population group. In community-based residential facilities, these care workers provide people with IDD with training…

We evaluated the effectiveness of an online training on palliative care knowledge and self-efficacy among staff working with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) using a one-group pretest-posttest design. Staff from four nonprofit residential and day services organizations in a U.S. Midwestern state participated. Among 132…

The oral health of people with intellectual and developmental disability is poorer than that of the general community. Any solution for people with intellectual and developmental disability living in residential services needs to include disability support workers (DSWs). Previous studies have used either didactic or train-the-trainer approaches…

Washington State University, Responsibility Opportunity Advocacy and Respect (WSU ROAR) is an inclusive 2-year residential postsecondary education program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. WSU ROAR is a recognized comprehensive transition program located in rural eastern Washington. Within the program, there are four…

People with intellectual disabilities who are deaf face obstacles participating in social environments that do not take into account their need for accessible visual communication. In the present case series, we describe the development of the adaptive skills profiles of eight participants in a fully inclusive therapeutic living community,…

Background: Direct support providers (DSPs) in community residential services are often central figures in the lives of service recipients. There is little research to date focusing on what motivates these employees to remain in the field despite stressful work conditions. Methods: An exploratory descriptive analysis of qualitative data obtained…

The importance of supporting families with members who have intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is well established in both policy and research. Yet little is known about how familiar parents are with existing resources (e.g., programs, supports, trainings), what information they would consider most helpful, and how they would prefer…

Using an autoethnographic approach, this dissertation explores the path taken by a person who serves a unique population of individuals--people who not only have more than one disability, but in addition, are unable to communicate using verbal (spoken) speech. Starting with a recap of the history of the use and subsequent oppression of American…