Researchers have shown that behavioral interventions that incorporate communication as a focus have demonstrated efficacy for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Researchers have demonstrated that individuals with IDD allocate responding to one communicative response modality over others when multiple communicative…

Young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) on college campuses are vulnerable to exclusion and a lack of social participation. However, peers can provide meaningful supports to young adults with IDD in the area of social/communication skills. The purpose of this study was to enhance the conversation skills of four young…

Self-advocacy is an essential skill for effective and successful integration into the wider social environment and is important for psychological and physiological well-being. The Performative Drama Model Ars Vitae was trialled to improve students' assertiveness and performance in real life. A 12-year-old boy with learning disabilities and…

Given the high prevalence of communication deficits in developmental disorders, there is need for efficient early interventions. The aim of this pilot study is to examine benefits of pivotal response treatment (PRT) for improving language in young children with developmental disorders without autism spectrum disorder. Parents of 15 children with…

Studies showed that children with Developmental Disabilities (DD) have communication and social difficulties; consequently, they are more likely to display disruptive behaviors. During daily interactions, disruptive behaviors can pose difficulties for individuals such as siblings, peers, parents, and educators. In KSA, parental involvement in…

Access to inclusive school settings is associated with many benefits for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the areas of academics (Agran et al., 2020; Kurth & Mastergeorge, 2010), social skills (Kleinert et al., 2015; Lyons et al., 2011; Schwab et al., 2015), and communication skills (Ballard & Dymond, 2017;…

Functional communication training (FCT) is a well-established, evidence-based practice used to address challenging behavior among individuals across settings, ages, and disability categories. However, the research is limited on the implementation of FCT in inclusive school settings for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The…

Background: Research suggests physicians may harbour paternalistic attitudes towards people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and lack the knowledge and skills to work with them. This study examined the impact of a brief intellectual and developmental disability curriculum intervention on these outcomes. Methods: First-year medical…

Functional communication training (FCT) is highly effective in reducing challenging behavior and increasing appropriate communication in children with developmental disabilities. However, the challenging behavior may re-occur following successful treatment with functional communication training when the functional communication response contacts…

For children with autism or intellectual and developmental disabilities who also have complex communication needs, communication is a necessary skill set to increase independence and quality of life. Understanding the how, where, and communication style being taught is important for identifying deficits in the field as well as which interventions…

In order to better understand protective factors for internalizing problems, this longitudinal study examined positive emotions, emotion awareness and (non-)emotional communication skills in relation to somatic complaints and social anxiety in children with (N = 104) and without (N = 183) Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) using self-reported…

Access to employment opportunities is associated with increased quality of life for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities; however, many adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities struggle to find employment. One reason they may have difficulty achieving employment is an inability to work independently.…

Children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) frequently engage in escape-maintained problem behavior, which can limit their access to academic instruction and lead to placement in more restrictive educational settings. While there are function-based interventions to treat escape-maintained problem behavior, these interventions…

In the current investigation, we reviewed the literature on mand training for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in schools. Ninety-three studies met our inclusion criteria including 225 individual participants. Data were extracted related to participant demographics (e.g., age, disability, response form) and study…

Functional communication training (FCT) is an evidence-based practice used to mitigate challenging behavior by increasing functional communication skills. To increase the practicality and feasibility of FCT in natural settings, thinning schedules of reinforcement are typically programmed following FCT. In this review, we meta-analyzed 28 studies…