Adults, including early childhood teachers and caregivers (i.e., parents, carers, kinship members), have an important role in supporting young children's learning through play in early childhood. However, little consideration has been given to the relationship between these significant adults' perspectives of play and the play experiences of young…

The purpose of this study was to (1) explore demands and resources among centre-based and Family, Friend and Neighbor (FFN) early childhood education (ECE) caregivers, and (2) investigate how these factors are associated with the quality of caregiver-child relationships. ECE caregivers (n = 257) completed a survey that assessed demands, resources,…

Clinical Question: Do caregivers of young children with communication disorders or children with delays/deficits in social-communication skills who participate in training and coaching on communication strategies via telepractice compared to those who participate in training and coaching on communication strategies in person show enhanced…

Aging family caregivers of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have unique circumstances setting them apart from the general caregiving population. Such differences include the extensive duration of the caregiving, and health concerns that manifest in the caregiver and individuals with IDD over time. Because of increasing…

Despite their high prevalence and clinical importance in autism, unusual and restricted interests remain under-researched and poorly understood. This study aimed to characterize the frequency and type of interests in autism by coding caregivers' open-ended responses in a sample of 237 autistic children and adolescents (M[subscript age] = 8.27…

Children are always learning. Innovative initiatives that offer opportunities for learning and skill building in environments outside of school are as important as ones designed for the classroom.

Background: Informal carers often play an integral role in the lives of people with intellectual disability (ID) residing in the community. In this study, we explored the extent to which carers of people with ID believe that the health care needs of the person they care for are being accommodated by general practice. Method: Semi-structured…

Parents increasingly view afterschool as important to the healthy development of children. Afterschool programs support healthy development. Parents of color and families with low incomes especially value afterschool's role in supporting healthy development. America After 3PM is a nationally representative survey of randomly selected adults who…

A select few African American families who have a child with a disability have the skills and knowledge to be proactive in the special education process. Special education teams must guide and mentor African American students and their families through the special education process. However, African American families have consistently contended…

The objective of this study is to investigate the environmental factors such as supports and barriers that have been faced by those children with SLD between the before and after COVID-19 lockdown and their involvement, participation frequency and desire for change. The participation features as well as the environmental factors at home, school…

Background: Despite historical and contemporary trauma, American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN; Indigenous) communities responded with resilience to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, AIANs experienced disproportionate rates of infection, hospitalization, death, and reduced life expectancy. School closures exacerbated disparities, leading to…

Although caregiving responsibilities and need for support persist and evolve across the life course in families with autistic youth or youth with other developmental disabilities (DDs), little is known about support during their child's adulthood years. Therefore, the present study used a mixed-methods approach to examine change and stability in…

Purpose: Understanding the experiences of people with developmental disabilities during the initial period of COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Individuals with developmental disabilities and their caregivers completed baseline and up to five follow-up online surveys using the CRISIS-AFAR measures, between July 2020 and September 2021. We used…

A strong connection between schools and families is vital for student success and well-being. Previous studies on school-family relationships found that open communication between parties may aid in supporting students' needs and ability to attend school. In this paper, authors analyze how leveraging relationships to gain an increased…

Primary informal caregivers perform most of the caring work with no financial compensation and often no training, experiencing the burden of care. Unless their socioeconomic status allows them to hire a formal caregiver for their care recipients or use healthcare facilities, they need to spend their opportunity cost to take care of their care…