Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) are known to present difficulties in storytelling, both in macrostructure (i.e., narrative scheme) and in microstructure (i.e., language complexity). Studies also show that children with DLD can improve their narrative macrostructural performance through specific intervention. While most…

Autism is heterogeneous at many levels, including clinical symptoms and etiology. A key strategy in studying heterogeneous conditions is having large enough sample sizes to stratify into smaller groups that are more homogeneous. SPARK and Simons Searchlight are large and growing research cohorts of individuals with autism in the United States and…

Purpose: The word learning of preschool-age children with developmental language disorder (DLD) is improved when spaced retrieval practice is incorporated into the learning sessions. In this preregistered study, we compared two types of spacing--an expanding retrieval practice schedule and an equally spaced schedule--to determine if one of these…

Purpose: Children with developmental language disorder (DLD) tend to interpret noncanonical sentences like passives using event probability (EP) information regardless of structure (e.g., by interpreting "The dog was chased by the squirrel" as "The dog chased the squirrel"). Verbs are a major source of EP information in adults…

Leisure participation enhances the learning of adaptive skills and the quality of life in youth with developmental disabilities. The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of a leisure education program in individuals with developmental disabilities in terms of adaptive behavior and quality of life. Nine participants divided into two small…

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created guidance documents that were too complex to be read and understood by the majority of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities who often read at or below a third-grade reading level. This study explored the extent to…

A growing number of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) attend day programming. These programs are designed to give consumers the opportunity to explore the community, socialize with community members, and to engage in community activities. Unfortunately, activities offered may be selected by program staff without much…

Objective: Pragmatics can be defined as the appropriate use of language in social interactions. Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) exhibit difficulties in pragmatic language (PL), but the nature and sources of these difficulties have not been fully investigated yet. The purpose of…

Background: As trauma-informed care advances in the service delivery system for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, additional resources are needed to foster staff development. This article describes the development and pilot evaluation of a digital training on trauma-informed care among direct service providers (DSPs) in the…

The direct support professional (DSP) workforce shortage crisis has reached untenable levels during the COVID-19 pandemic as DSPs rapidly exit the workforce. To gain a better understanding of factors that contribute to DSP resilience during stressful and challenging times, we interviewed 10 DSPs identified by colleagues as resilient to elicit…

Adults living with intellectual and developmental disabilities are often prescribed psychotropic medication on an "as needed" basis (PRN) in response to behavioural challenges. In the present study we conducted a retrospective analysis of medication administration records in the 6-months preceding and following discharge of 11 adults…

Background: Individuals with developmental disabilities have specific physical and psychosocial needs that can require extra support to participate fully in and enjoy many benefits of recreation activities. Unfortunately, little is known about individuals with developmental disabilities' experiences in outdoor recreation. The purpose of this study…

Medical students receive very little instruction related to caring for people with intellectual/developmental disabilities. As a result, medical students and physicians alike report low levels of confidence in their ability to provide care to this population. In this piece, I provide a medical student's perspective on how to implement changes in…

Self-advocacy is an effective means of attaining required accommodations and services for adults with developmental disabilities. Previous reviews exist on related topics but have not been comprehensive or specific to the act of teaching self-advocacy skills. The purpose of this review is to begin to fill this gap by identifying studies that have…

Adults with disabilities have long been at the forefront of disability advocacy in the United States. Grounded in the tenets of radical disability studies and principles of disability justice, this study explored the lived experiences of 12 adults with disabilities, including intellectual disability and developmental disabilities, with a…