China, classified as a middle-income country by the World Bank, faces a scarcity of resources in providing autism interventions, despite a comparable autism prevalence in the Western world. Most autism interventions in China are imported from high-income countries, highlighting the need to examine whether the focus of the interventions from mixed…

The COVID-19 pandemic is associated with family adjustment, heightened adolescent mental health symptomology, and increased caregiver stress. The current study used a diverse sample of caregivers and early adolescents to examine the association between pandemic-related experiences, caregiver perceived stress, and adolescent mental health. Two…

Effective practices for supporting families with autistic children ensure a match between their needs and the expectations and competencies of the clinician. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) services are a common provision for serving autistic individuals. However, in regions where ABA is in its infancy, like the Czech Republic and North Macedonia,…

The Wallace Foundation commissioned Research for Action and McClanahan Associates to study how out-of-school time intermediaries (OSTIs) responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and the role they could play in supporting communities moving forward. Citywide out-of-school time (OST) systems encompass a wide variety of afterschool and summer programs and…

Individuals with Down's syndrome rely on caregivers to support lifestyle behaviour change. It is therefore important to understand how caregivers put health recommendations into practice. Through conducting semi-structured interviews, the present study sought to understand the facilitators and barriers that caregivers faced when implementing…

This study examined caregivers' longitudinal reports of adolescent multiracial categorization across the ages of 9.5, 10.5, and 14 years, and adolescents' reports of their own multiracial categorization at the age of 14 years. A portion of caregivers' reports of adolescent multiracial status were inconsistent across the years of the study; some…

This study examined the leadership approach to child health and wellbeing within the early-years sector; it drew upon the evidence from thirty-two practitioners and ten nursery managers. Practitioners evidenced the challenges in recognising the signs and symptoms of low wellbeing and in monitoring progress. A constructivist paradigm enabled…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how caregivers and teachers describe best practices to support the emotional, behavioral, and academic experiences of the active-duty dependent who relocate to a high school in Northern Virginia from another state or overseas school. Bowen's family system theory was the theoretical…

Many parents of toddlers and young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) face challenges in identifying community childcare centers that are adequately prepared to provide developmentally appropriate care for their toddler while also obtaining the recommended amount of early intervention services in their communities. Implementing…

Consensus is often a prerequisite for communities to develop initiatives to improve practice and create a future together. We investigated the consensus around the perceived educational inclusion of autistic and other neurodivergent students, their caregivers, and their teachers. Seventeen triads of informants plus two single students from…

This study identified custodial grandparents' perception of sources of stress that may affect their health and better understand their needs. Findings from this qualitative study are based on thematic analysis of interviews with 10 custodial grandparents. The following themes emerged: (1) grandparents' stress from perceived lack of readiness to…

The present study seeks to address the dearth of research focussed on childminding (family day care or family childcare) in Ireland, despite its significant role in national childcare provision. One overarching aim was to explore childminders' cultural models of praxis and pedagogy in the Irish context. This research was conducted within the…

Background: The present study aimed to explore the experiences and needs of direct support staff during the initial stage of the COVID-19 lockdown in the Netherlands. Method: Overall, eleven direct support staff were recruited from five intellectual disability services to participate in this descriptive qualitative study. They recorded 34 audio…

School climates are known to be associated with a range of student outcomes (including academic, social, behavioural and affective), and much work to date has focused on gathering students' perceptions of their school climate to inform ongoing improvement efforts. However, parents and caregivers, as well as students, are also influenced by the…

Families face systemic barriers when deciding on educational services for their children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Further, caregiver health and well-being is critical for supporting children with IDD. In addition, research has shown a negative correlation between the quality…