Youth engagement in research: exploring training needs of youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities.

Background: Authentic researcher-youth partnerships in patient-oriented research (POR) where the research responds to the needs expressed by youth themselves are essential to make research meaningful. While patient-oriented research (POR) is increasingly practiced, few training programs exist in Canada and none, to our knowledge, are tailored for youth with neurodevelopmental disabilities (NDD). Our primary objective was to explore the training needs of youth (ages 18-25) with NDD to enhance their knowledge, confidence, and skills as research partners.