Literacy plays an especially important role in aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) because spelling and writing support precise communication. Fortunately, the importance of literacy is reflected in federal legislation that mandates that all students, regardless of ability, receive comprehensive literacy instruction.…

Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience lower levels of physical activity in comparison to the general population. While many factors contribute to this disparity, expanding appropriate and accessible programming in settings frequented by adults with IDD deserves attention. One such setting is post-secondary…

Students with intellectual developmental disability (IDD) may have impairments in conceptual, social, and daily life areas that will require support when these students are included in mainstream settings. In order to examine the facilitators and impediments involved in inclusion of students with IDD in regular schools in Israel, we interviewed…

Eye tracking research technologies are often used to study how individuals attend visually to different types of AAC displays (e.g. visual scene displays, grid displays). The assumption is that efficiency of visual search may relate to efficiency of motor selection necessary for communication via aided AAC; however, this assumption has not…

Children with developmental delays are more likely to experience difficulties in social-emotional skills and challenging behavior, which can lead to poor long-term outcomes if left untreated. The purpose of this literature review was to synthesize the literature related to home-based interventions to address social-emotional skills and challenging…

Children with developmental delays are more likely to experience difficulties in social-emotional skills and challenging behavior, which can lead to poor long-term outcomes if left untreated. The purpose of this literature review was to synthesize the literature related to home-based interventions to address social-emotional skills and challenging…

The problems associated with undue and overbroad guardianship for people with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) have received increasing attention in recent years. In simple terms, guardianship threatens one's ability to exercise self-determination and make important decisions that reflect their own unique values, preferences, and…

Background: The experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) parents of children with developmental disabilities (DDs) in health and early learning systems are largely understudied. Inclusive, affirming services are critical to timely identification and intervention for DDs. This literature review aimed to establish…

This study used administrative data to compare the socio-demographics, health conditions, and health service use of autistic adults with adults with and without other developmental disabilities, after matching for age and sex. Autistic women and men were more likely to have a wide range of physical and mental health conditions compared to adults…

Purpose: For bilingual children with developmental language disorder (DLD), language treatment response is the degree to which an individual child progresses in both of their languages. Understanding what predicts language treatment response for an individual child can help clinicians plan treatment more effectively. Method: This study is a…

Psychiatric disorders are common in youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities. This is a vulnerable group of children whose behavioural problems often have more complicated care needs than other children, which can place a great deal of stress on their families. However, the association of family mental health issues, level of…

Within the framework of the theory of visual attention (TVA), the visual attention span (VAS) deficit among individuals with developmental dyslexia has been ascribed to the problems entailed by bottom-up (BotU) and top-down (TopD) attentional processes. The former involves two VAS subcomponents: the visual short-term memory storage and perceptual…

This study aimed to explore the prevalence of challenging behaviors (CBs) associated with students with severe developmental disabilities (SDDs) as rated by their teachers. The study also attempted to examine whether the occurrence and intensity of CBs might depend on certain socio-demographic variables. Data was collected using a questionnaire to…

There has been a sharp increase in mental health support for children in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, with a growing demand for school-based mental health services due to gaps in the US youth mental health infrastructure. This dissertation presents an action research study conducted in a Title I middle school in Arizona, exploring a school…

Purpose: The aim of this scoping review was to map the research literature published in English and in peer-reviewed journals related to the home literacy environment of children and youth aged 3-21 years with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) who have significant support needs, including children with complex communication needs.…