Establishing an Advocacy Activities Scale for Parents of Individuals With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.

Advocacy has long been heralded as a way to create change for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families. However, without an established measure, it is difficult to accurately characterize advocacy activities. Drawing from extant research, the Advocacy Activities Scale was developed to assess three domains of parent advocacy: advocacy for one's own children, advocacy for other families, and advocacy for systemic change.

An Equity-Based Research Agenda to Promote Social Inclusion and Belonging for People With IDD.

Having a sense of social inclusion and belonging, typically characterized by our personal relationships and community participation, is the central essence of life for most people, yet it remains elusive for many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). This article summarizes the work of a diverse group of researchers and advocates to propose 6 big-picture, equity-based goals to drive future research in the field: (1) understanding the role of intersectionality, (2) understanding intimate relationships, (3) promoting formation of communities of care to support social inclusion, (4) understanding life course trajectories of social inclusion, (5) understanding social inclusion in virtual spaces, and (6) understanding how to promote social inclusion in the entire research process.

Individualizing Instruction for Students With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in China: Teachers' Perceptions and Practices.

This study investigated Chinese special education teachers' perceptions and practices of individualizing instruction for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Semistructured interviews were conducted with 31 teachers who taught elementary Chinese language arts and math in six public special education schools for students with IDD in Shanghai. In addition, lesson plans written by 19 of the 31 teachers were collected.

Lessons Learned From Research Collaboration Among People With and Without Developmental Disabilities.

Research related to the developmental disability (DD) community should include collaboration with individuals with DD. Unfortunately, people with DD are infrequently involved in research projects in meaningful ways, and there is little guidance about how to collaborate equitably with researchers with DD. The purpose of this article is to share lessons learned from a collaborative research study among researchers with and without DD using both qualitative and quantitative methods to develop and examine the effectiveness of a civic engagement intervention for transition-aged youth with disabilities.

Youth and Caregivers' Perspective on Teens Engaged as Mentors (TEAM): An Inclusive Peer Mentoring Program for Autistic Adolescents.

Past studies indicate that many autistic youth benefit from support with developing social relationships, exploring leadership opportunities, and engaging in post-secondary education. Teens Engaged as Mentors (TEAM) is an innovative mentoring program that provides socialization and community engagement opportunities in a safe environment for youth with and without autism. This qualitative study explored how participants and their caregivers perceived participation in TEAM.

The Efficacy and Impact of a Special Education Legislative Advocacy Program Among Parents of Children with Disabilities.

With the looming reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), it is important for parent input to inform legislative changes. Unfortunately, parent input has been limited in past IDEA reauthorizations. Thus, it is critical to develop and test interventions to improve parent legislative advocacy.

Examining the relation between empowerment and civic engagement among parents of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Internationally, parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities have historically engaged in advocacy leading to compulsory education for their children. However, few parents have reported civic engagement. Although empowerment is related to parent advocacy, it is unclear whether empowerment relates to civic engagement.

Perspectives about adult sibling relationships: A dyadic analysis of siblings with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Most siblings of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) report positive sibling relationships. However, extant research often only examines the perspective of the nondisabled sibling; it is unclear whether siblings with IDD report close sibling relationships. Thus, the aim of this study was to understand adult sibling relationships from the perspectives of both siblings with and without IDD.

Content development, accessibility and feasibility of a self-report tool for use in programmes serving youth with cognitive disabilities: The Participatory Experience Survey.

Introduction: Participation in community-based recreation and leisure activities may afford valuable opportunities to young people with cognitive disabilities (CD) to develop important self-determination skills needed for success in adulthood. To evaluate whether these programmes are achieving their intended impact, it is important to have a tool that captures the perspective of the participants using an accessible method. This article describes the content development and evaluation of accessibility and feasibility of the Participatory Experience Survey (PES).

Understanding Decision Making Among Individuals With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD) and Their Siblings.

Many siblings anticipate fulfilling caregiving roles for their brothers and sisters with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Given these roles and the importance of supported decision making, it is crucial to understand how individuals with IDD and their siblings make decisions. Using dyadic interviews, we examined the perspectives of nine sibling dyads ( N = 18) about decision making in relation to self-determination, independent living, and employment.

The roles of adult siblings in the lives of people with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Background: Siblings of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) often assume key roles to support their brothers and sisters. For people with more significant support needs, siblings may undertake additional roles and responsibilities throughout their lives. The purpose of the present study was to identify and describe the roles of adult siblings who have a brother or sister with severe IDD.

Feasibility of the Participatory Experience Survey and the Setting Affordances Survey for use in evaluation of programmes serving youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Background: Participation by youth with disabilities in recreational activities has been shown to promote the development of important skills needed for transition to adulthood. The Participatory Experience Survey (PES) and the Setting Affordances Survey (SAS) were developed for use by recreational programmes serving youth with significant intellectual and developmental disabilities (SIDD) to assess participant experiences and ensure that participants are afforded optimal opportunities to develop these skills. This paper presents a feasibility evaluation to determine the appropriateness of the PES and the SAS for use in a programme evaluation context.

Parent Involvement in Meaningful Post-School Experiences for Young Adults With IDD and Pervasive Support Needs.

Despite initiatives supporting young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to engage in post-secondary education and integrated employment, those with more intensive support needs are not as easily involved in these post-school experiences. In an effort to learn from positive examples, we examined parent involvement in meaningful post-school experiences by eight young adults with IDD and pervasive support needs. Secondary analysis of data from a prior interview study yielded this smaller sample of eight young adults with meaningful post-school experiences.

"I like others to not try to fix me": agency, independence, and autism.

This article is based on an interpretevist, qualitative research project conducted with individuals labeled with autism who type to communicate. Researchers engaged in participant observation and conducted open-ended interviews with 9 participants who were working to develop independent typing skills. Three findings emerged from this research.

Noradrenaline and dopamine elevations in the rat prefrontal cortex in spatial working memory.

The role of prefrontal cortical dopamine (DA) in the modulation of working memory functions is well documented, but substantial evidence indicates that the locus ceruleus noradrenergic system also modulates working memory via actions within the prefrontal cortex (PFC). This study shows that PFC noradrenaline (NA) and DA dialysate levels phasically increase when rats perform correctly in a delayed alternation task in a T-maze, a test of spatial working memory. However, NA levels were markedly enhanced in animals trained to alternate compared with rats that acquired the spatial information about the location of food in the maze but were untrained to make a choice to obtain the reward.

Inhibition of nitric oxide release in vivo by ethanol.

Objective: Previous studies indicate that the nitric oxide (NO(.)) pathway is involved in the acute or chronic effects of ethanol on the central nervous system. However, direct evidence for the effect of ethanol on NO(.

Pulse of nitric oxide release in response to activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in the rat striatum: rapid desensitization, inhibition by receptor antagonists, and potentiation by glycine.

Increased activity of glutamate N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptors is the dominant mechanism by which nitric oxide (NO.) is generated. By using a selective direct-current amperometry method, we characterized real time NO* release in vivo in response to chemical stimulation of NMDA receptors in the rat striatum.

Biphasic effects of ethanol on acetylcholine release in the rat prefrontal cortex.

Low doses of ethanol (0.5 g/kg i.p.

Bidirectional modulation of spatial working memory by ethanol.

Background: It is common knowledge that ethanol causes cognitive and memory impairments. Although these deficits are attributed to its central depressant properties, ethanol has biphasic effects and at low doses can produce excitatory actions.

Methods: Here we examined whether ethanol could have biphasic effects on performance in a delayed alternation task in a T-maze, a behavioral test of working memory.

Can voltammetry measure nitrogen monoxide (NO) and/or nitrites?

Recently, voltammetry with carbon fibre electrodes (CFE) has been implemented for real time measurement of nitrogen monoxide (NO) indicating that it is oxidised at the potential value of nitrites, approximately +700 mV. In contrast, here we show that modified CFE can monitor NO at oxidation potentials different than that of nitrites, i.e.

Increased extracellular glutamate in rat prefrontal cortex: movement artifact contribution.

Extracellular glutamate levels were measured by microdialysis in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) of anaesthetised rats in response to a short, experimenter-provoked mechanical movement of the animal head. Movement caused significant, nerve impulse-independent elevations of glutamate levels (maximum increase, 300+/-30% of baseline). This study reveals a possible artifact in the measurement of extracellular glutamate concentrations by microdialysis and suggests that, in awake animals, treatments associated with stimulation of motor activity can cause non-specific efflux of glutamate in the PFC.

A tryptophan-free diet markedly reduces frontocortical 5-HT release, but fails to modify ethanol preference in alcohol-preferring (sP) and non-preferring (sNP) rats.

It has been hypothesised that rat lines genetically selected for their alcohol preference consume large amounts of ethanol because they have a low 5-HT content. Since brain tryptophan (TRP) availability controls the rate at which neurons synthesise and release serotonin (5-HT), we assessed whether the administration of a TRP-supplemented or TRP-free diet for 3 consecutive days influenced alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring and non-preferring sP and sNP rats, respectively. In the same animals extracellular 5-HT concentration was monitored by microdialysis in the frontal cortex.

Biphasic effects of NMDA on the motility of the rat portal vein.

The effect of NMDA on the motility of the rat portal vein was studied in an isolated preparation. NMDA induced a concentration-dependent (10(-7) - 10(-4) M) increase of the contraction frequency (maximum increase, 148+/-6% of control at NMDA 10(-4) M). The NMDA-induced excitatory response was prevented by the competitive NMDA receptor antagonists (+/-)-2-Amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (AP-5, 5x10(-4) M) or (RS)-3-(2-carboxypiperazine-4-yl) propyl-1-phosphonic acid (CPP, 10(-4) M).

Long-term voluntary ethanol consumption affects neither spatial nor passive avoidance learning, nor hippocampal acetylcholine release in alcohol-preferring rats.

Long-term ethanol consumption in humans and laboratory animals is associated with morphological and functional alterations of brain structures involved in cognitive processes. In the present experiments, we assessed whether voluntary long-term consumption of ethanol by alcohol-preferring (sP) rats under free choice condition with water (also) caused alterations in memory performance and hippocampal acetylcholine (ACh) release in vivo. A group of sP rats were offered a 10% v/v ethanol solution in a free choice with water for 36 weeks; controls had only tap water available.

Glutamate-induced increase of extracellular glutamate through N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors in ethanol withdrawal.

Ethanol withdrawal is a physiopathological state associated with increased number and function of N-methyl-D-aspartate glutamate receptors. We assessed the effect of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor stimulation on the extracellular levels of glutamate in vivo by the focal application of N-methyl-D-aspartate in the striatum of dependent rats following withdrawal from chronic treatment with ethanol. In control, chronic sucrose-treated rats, 800 microM N-methyl-D-aspartate increased glutamate levels to 268% of baseline values.