The participation of students with significant cognitive disabilities in accountability assessments aligned with general education standards is a heavily debated topic in the field of special education. Attempts to understand the impact of these assessments have generally been limited to correlational methods. We employed a…

Background: In most African countries, disability is explained by cultural beliefs. This has implications for healthcare delivery for persons with intellectual disabilities. Methods: With the aid of a qualitative approach, we explore the interplay between cultural beliefs and the training of health professionals and their implications for the…

Background: Effects of staff provided positive behaviour support (PBS) for individuals with intellectual disabilities are unclear. Method: Using a multicentre non-randomised cluster controlled design, 26 teams of residential group homes, including 245 staff members of 167 individuals with intellectual disabilities, were allocated to a PBS or…

Online shopping is a common feature of modern adult life and is made easy with targeted advertisements, a large buy now button, and pre-entered credit card information. However, these features do not support making purchasing decisions based on what is best for the individual. Decision making about buying items requires an understanding of basic…

Medical professionals commonly report having inadequate training providing care for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This pilot study aimed to address this gap through a virtual Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) with individuals with IDD as patient educators for 25 first- and second-year medical…

The purpose of this study was to examine the use of virtual reality, an emerging technology, to teach college-age students with intellectual disability and autism to acquire science vocabulary words relating to human anatomy. One student with autism and two students with an intellectual disability participated in a multiple baseline across skills…

We aimed to identify unique constellations of sensory phenotypes for genetic etiologies associated with diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID). Caregivers reported on sensory behaviors via the Sensory Profile for 290 participants (younger than 25 years of age) with ASD and/or ID diagnoses, of which…

Background: Sexual health includes physical, emotional, mental, and social wellbeing related to sexuality. Given people with mild intellectual disabilities' reliance on relatives and support staff, it is important to explore the latter's understanding of sexual health. Method: Relatives (n = 7) and support staff (n = 15) of people with mild…

Background: The study examined relations between a number of variables regarding typically-developing adult siblings of individuals with intellectual and developmental disability: involvement in the lives of their siblings with disability, personal resources (self-efficacy and sense of coherence), loneliness, and adjustment. Method: Participants…

Autistic individuals with intellectual disability are at greater risk of experiencing anxiety than their non-autistic peers without intellectual disability. Anxiety in this group may present as behaviour that challenges, often leading families to reach out to healthcare or support services. However, many families experience difficulties accessing…

Background: Participation-focused interventions are gaining momentum. The Pathways and Resources for Engagement and Participation (PREP) is one such intervention, and it was investigated in this study for its effectiveness in supporting participation in employment-related activities for young adults with intellectual disabilities in Australia.…

This study reports on a five-year data set about the deaths of 599 individuals in New South Wales Australia, who at the time of their death were living in out-of-home care. Analysis aimed to: i) gain a clearer understanding of place of death for people with intellectual disability; and ii) identify and analyse associated variables to investigate…

Families are often the forgotten partners in education and in educational research. It is important to consider input from families regarding their children's education. Their voices are crucial ones that should be heard more often. The research is currently lacking information about families' perceptions about the education of their children with…

Purpose: To examine current practices and recommendations regarding clinical supervision from the perspective of Positive Behaviour Support (PBS) practitioners in Australia. Methods: A qualitative study design consisting of semi-structured interviews with 14 PBS practitioners. Results: Positive supervision experiences revealed the importance of…

Background: Although older adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities face high risks of maltreatment, there are few interventions available to reduce these risks. This study describes the development of a research-based intervention that aims to reduce the risks of maltreatment for this population. Method: The development involved…