The COVID-19 global pandemic provided an opportunity to reassess pedagogies, practices, and policies in higher education. In this dissertation, I explored the experiences of undergraduate and graduate students with dis/abilities (SWDs) in higher education before and during the COVID-19 global pandemic. The first manuscript is a descriptive study…

Community mental health centers (CMHCs) offer invaluable, publicly-funded treatment for serious mental illness (SMI). Unfortunately, evidence-based psychological treatments are often not delivered at CMHCs, in part due to implementation barriers, such as limited time, high caseloads, and complex clinical presentations. Transdiagnostic treatments…

The overall aim was to examine participants' perceptions of a communication course as held for parents of children with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. The course curriculum included responsive strategies and augmentative and alternative communication. The research questions addressed the favourability, changes in parents' or…

This paper is a methodological reflection drawn from a study on the transition from school into young adulthood in Aotearoa New Zealand. During this process, the personal priorities of young adults with significant disabilities often becomes overpowered by those involved in their post-school planning. Through the experiences of young adults living…

Music is a way of representing the patterns of frequencies and vibrational relationships--and at St. Francis de Sales School for the Deaf, it is used it to promote language learning and transform students' educational experiences. Traditionally defined through the medium of sound, music has been seen as an approach that excludes deaf and hard of…

In pediatric health care there is increasing attention for a child-centered approach, also referred to as personalized care (Coyne, Hallstrom, & Soderback, 2016). In this care it is essential to assess personal relevant functioning, hence, to explore which activities are important for a child and to assess the quality of performance of these…

This study examined Oregon's early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) pipelines as a function of children's intersecting ethnicity and home language(s) with a focus on children from Latino/a backgrounds with communication disorders. We found differences in children's referral source and age of referral, likelihood of…

Article 24 of the "Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities," along with "General Comment 4," explicitly outlines the right of every person to an inclusive education at every level. And yet, even amongst supporters of inclusive education, it is not uncommon for some students to be considered 'too disabled' to be…

Individuals with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) rely on direct support professionals (DSPs) to communicate with them and plan meaningful activities of daily living (ADL) for them. This qualitative descriptive study explored how DSPs providing ongoing care who work directly with individuals with PIMD describe the use of…

Postsecondary education students with intellectual and multiple disabilities are often supported by same-aged peer mentors. A single-subject multiple baseline design was used to examine the relationship between training with and without performance feedback and a peer mentor's fidelity of implementing a student's function-based intervention plan…

Background: Families struggle to support family members with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD), especially in low resourced settings where formal services may not be available. Method: The adapted Family Community Participation survey, measuring perceptions of community participation, was administered to 67 primary caregivers…

Assistive technology (AT) is any item, piece of equipment or product system whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized that is used to increase, maintain or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities" (21st Century Assistive Technology Act of 2019, p.9-10). Students with multiple disabilities in…

The present study evaluated a systematic instructional package including the system of least prompts (SLP) to teach differentiation and selection of tangible symbols to continue activities for two children with complex support needs and deafblindness (DB). A multiple probe design across three symbols was used to evaluate the intervention package…

Shared reading focuses on the interaction between an adult and one or more children as they experience a book together. While research has documented classroom shared reading practices among students with diverse characteristics, few have focused on students with significant support needs. Using a conversation-analytic approach, this study sought…

Background: All children have the right to express their views about matters affecting them and participate in decision-making for their future irrespective of their intellectual ability. This study explores the adult role in understanding the views of children with profound and multiple learning difficulties who are not using a formal…