Journal of Intellectual & Developmental Disability

BACKGROUND: Active support (AS) has gained popularity as an approach for assisting people with intellectual disability to engage more fully in everyday activities. Although research has identified changes in the extent that residents are engaged in meaningful activities, the experience of stakeholders such as residents, staff, and family in AS is underexplored. METHOD: A general inductive approach was used to analyse focus group and interview transcripts of residents (n = 4), staff (n = 13), and family (n = 2) about their experience of involvement in an AS pilot project at one residential care facility in New Zealand...

BACKGROUND: There is a need for a more accurate characterisation of higher level restricted and repetitive behaviour (RRB) in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including why it might be considered problematic and events associated with its occurrence. METHOD: We selected one form of higher level RRB-arranging and ordering-that was rated as severe for a large percentage of the population sampled. We interviewed 20 students' teachers and conducted naturalistic observations for 15 of those students...

BACKGROUND: Sensory reactivity in people with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) has been found to differ in comparison to reactivity in people without ASC. In this study sensory experiences of high-functioning individuals with ASC were explored and described. METHOD: Interview data from 15 participants with a diagnosis of ASC were analysed by content analysis. RESULTS: Seven aspects of sensory experiences were identified: Being hyper- and hypo-reactive, reacting to general overload, having strong stimuli preferences, managing attentiveness to stimuli, managing sensory/motor stimuli, and dealing with consequences of sensory reactions in daily life...

BACKGROUND: The aim of this descriptive single case study was to describe a unique interaction with a person with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities (PIMD) in a holistic way-focusing on the client, the staff member, and the interacting dyad-and to include the experiential knowledge of the interaction partner. METHOD: A videotaped interaction of the staff-client dyad was analysed by triangulating data from video analysis, documents, observational rating scales, and an interview with the staff member...

BACKGROUND: Schoolboys (N = 156, M age = 13 years) participated in a disability awareness training program that included guest speakers (athletes from the Paralympics and the Special Olympics), a documentary about people with a disability, a disability simulation activity, and factual information about different disabilities. METHOD: Participants were allocated to a training program or a control condition. Subsequently, control participants completed the training program...

BACKGROUND: Functional abilities and social outcomes of young adults with cerebral palsy (CP) are relatively under-researched. Improvements in paediatric care have extended the expectation of achieving adulthood to 90%. METHOD: Young adults aged 20-30 years with CP (n = 335) were compared to a population-based control group (n = 2,152) of the same age. Motor function, self-care abilities, educational level, and social outcomes were determined by questionnaire. RESULTS: Half the study group walked independently, but only 35...

BACKGROUND: In this study, we explored the extent to which the knowledge and attributions of support staff predicted their reported helping behaviour in relation to people with an intellectual disability who displayed challenging behaviour (CB), and whether emotion regulation style moderated the relationship between attributions and this helping behaviour. METHOD: Participants (N = 107) completed self-report measures of knowledge of the meaning and management of CB, causal attributions and behavioural response to CB, and emotion regulation style...

BACKGROUND: The transition from school to adulthood for young adults with an intellectual disability involves movement from a generally secure and supported school environment to an emerging adult life that may be characterised by a wide variation in adoption of adult roles related to employment, independent living, friendships, and day activities. METHOD: In this study, we investigated the perspectives of 18 mothers of young adults with either Down syndrome or Rett syndrome through qualitative semistructured interviews...

BACKGROUND: Researchers investigating the impact of parenting children with disabilities suggest that regardless of the specific diagnosis, parents experience increased levels of stress. However, particular disabilities may be associated with distinct stressors and strains. METHOD: Parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and parents of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) participated in in-depth qualitative interviews employing a basic interpretative approach...

BACKGROUND: There is a long history of research on parents of children with disabilities, but to the authors' knowledge, no study has compared the stress of parents of children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) to parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). METHOD: Twenty-five parents of children with ASD and 25 parents of children with FASD completed the Parenting Stress Index - Short Form (PSI-SF) and the Questionnaire on Resources and Stress - Friedrich's Version (QRS-F)...

BACKGROUND: In this study we aimed to develop a Spanish version of the Self-Efficacy/Social Support Scales for Activity for persons with Intellectual Disability (SE/SS-AID). METHOD: A cross-sectional study was carried out in a sample of 117 individuals with intellectual disability (ID). The SE/SS-AID scales were translated into Spanish and their psychometric properties analysed. RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable fit (CFI = ...

BACKGROUND: There is concern about widespread medication use by people with intellectual disability (ID), especially psychotropic and anticonvulsant agents. However, there is sparse information on prescribing patterns in Australia. METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted between 2000 and 2002 among adults with ID who live in the community in Brisbane, Australia. Medication data were extracted from a health screening tool. Demographic and medical data were collected from telephone interviews and medical records...

BACKGROUND: Researchers, professionals, and families have shown increasing concern with the family quality of life (FQoL) of people with intellectual disability (ID) and their families. The goals of this research were (a) to explore how Spanish families understand FQoL by developing 2 different measurement tools for families with a member with ID under and over 18 years old, and (b) to provide 2 diagnostic instruments that will be useful for designing action plans. METHOD: The study comprised 4 stages: (a) focus groups, (b) expert assessment, (c) pilot study, and (d) normalisation and standardisation...

BACKGROUND: The ability to generate and flexibly change concepts is of great importance for the development of academic and adaptive skills. This paper analyses the conceptual reasoning ability of children with mild intellectual disability (MID) by their achievements on the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST). METHOD: The sample consisted of 95 children with MID aged between 10 years and 13 years 11 months. The following variables from the WCST were analysed: number of categories completed, initial conceptualisation, total number of errors, non-perseverative errors, perseverative errors, number of perseverative responses, and failures to maintain set...

BACKGROUND: Little is known about how middle-aged and older women with intellectual disability (ID) cope with life transitions such as perimenopause and postmenopause. METHOD: A mixed methods approach was employed to explore the attitudes toward and experiences of menopause among women with ID and their family carers in one city in Taiwan. RESULTS: A survey found that how the carers perceived the level of menopausal symptoms in their female family members with ID was affected by their attitudes toward menopause; and carer age and education were significant factors associated with carer menopausal attitudes...

BACKGROUND: It is well recognised that parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often experience clinically significant levels of stress and depression. This study examined which ASD characteristic best predicted parental distress. METHOD: Parents of 109 children aged between 4 and 12 (M age = 7.89, SD = 2.43) completed self-report measures of anxiety, depression, stress, and parenting-specific stress. They also completed rating scales regarding their child's ASD characteristics...

BACKGROUND: Previous research indicates that work stress contributes to intentions to quit among direct care workers (DCWs) who provide services to people with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). Though resources can help DCWs cope and remain in a job, little is known about how various dimensions of work stress and resources (social and personal resources) are associated with intentions to quit. METHODS: A total of 323 DCWs from 5 community-based IDD organisations completed a self-administered survey...

BACKGROUND: The authors and 2 Chinese parents established 2 support groups in China. One group was for parents of children with autism, and the other was for young adults with either mental health issues or intellectual disability, and their parents. The purpose of this study was to examine the meaning and effectiveness of these groups from the parents' perspectives. METHOD: Qualitative interviews and questionnaires were completed by members of the groups, across the first 16 months...

BACKGROUND: Active support is an effective intervention to support engagement of residents with intellectual disability in group homes. This survey explored resident characteristics of the people supported by organisations implementing active support, the provision of active support, its procedures and systems, and resident engagement in meaningful activity and relationships. METHOD: Information was collected through questionnaires and direct observation of 33 group homes from 6 organisations in Victoria, Australia, with a 5-10-year history of implementing active support...

BACKGROUND: This study aimed at assessing the impact of including children with intellectual disability (ID) in general education classrooms with support on the academic achievement of their low-, average-, and high-achieving peers without disability. METHOD: A quasi-experimental study was conducted with an experimental group of 202 pupils from classrooms with an included child with mild or moderate ID, and a control group of 202 pupils from classrooms with no included children with special educational needs (matched pairs sample)...