Melissa Currie

Planning Successful Transitions From School to Adult Roles for Youth With Disabilities

This article provides a conceptual model and review of the effectiveness of approaches for providing transition education and planning services for youth with disabilities. The model incorporates four approaches: skills training, prevocational/ vocational guidance, a client-centered approach, and an ecological/experiential approach. The model links these approaches to commonly used transition strategies, which reflect the personal, person-environment, and environmental levels of intervention. The model specifies the short-term goals addressed by the approaches and strategies and links these to the long-term outcome of multifaceted role engagement. Evidence for the effectiveness and utility of the identified approaches is reviewed. Recommendations are made for best practices in the delivery of transition education and planning services, for research, and for clinical practice.

The development of expertise in pediatric rehabilitation therapists: Changes in approach, self-knowledge, and use of enabling and customizing strategies

Purpose: To examine the clinical decision making of novice, intermediate, and expert pediatric rehabilitation therapists from various disciplines. Methods: Two qualitative studies were conducted. Thirteen therapists took part in a study using the critical incident interview technique and 11 therapists took part in a study using the ‘think aloud’ technique. Therapists were classified as novice, intermediate, or expert in developmental level based on a cluster analysis of data collected using a multifaceted battery of assessment tools. Data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach. Results: Expert and intermediate therapists differed from novices with respect to content, self-, and procedural knowledge. Conclusion: With increasing expertise, therapists use a supportive, educational, holistic, functional, and strengths-based approach; have heightened humility yet increased self-confidence; and understand how to facilitate and support client change and adaptation by using principles of engagement, coherence, and manageability. Expert therapists use enabling and customizing strategies to ensure a successful therapeutic session, optimize the childs functioning in the mid-term, and ensure child and family adaptation and accommodation over the longer-term.

The Effectiveness of Transition Strategies for Youth With Disabilities

This article reviews the effectiveness of the 10 main strategies used to provide transition education and planning services for youth with disabilities. The review suggests that multifaceted interventions are most effective. Integrated and comprehensive transition services should address skill instruction and self-awareness; provide customized informational, emotional, and instrumental supports to meet the needs of youth and families; provide direct opportunities and experiences for skill development; and address the welcoming nature of community activities and settings. The information can be used by rehabilitation managers and therapists in the design and delivery of transition services. Recommendations are made for future research with respect to strategies to facilitate youth transitions.

Measuring the Expertise of Paediatric Rehabilitation Therapists

This article describes the development of a classification system to measure the expertise levels of practicing paediatric rehabilitation therapists. Seventy‐five therapists from five disciplines (physical, occupational, speech‐language, behaviour, and recreational therapy) were involved, along with 170 peers, and 188 parents of children with disabilities. A cluster analysis of 10 indicators of expertise (derived from a battery of self‐completed, peer‐completed, and parent‐completed measures) indicated three levels of therapist expertise—novice, intermediate, and expert. Expertise level was related to various aspects of experience but not to therapy discipline. The classification system will be useful for the education and professional development of paediatric therapists, and for research on expertise in paediatric rehabilitation.

(Unpacking) father involvement in the context of childhood neurodisability research: a scoping review

Abstract Background: In the past thirty years, theoretical and empirical scholarship on father involvement has emerged and firmly established itself. Efforts to define, measure, and explore outcomes related to father involvement in the context of childhood neurodisability are evident but less well established. The purpose of this study was to systematically map empirical studies on father involvement in the context of childhood neurodisability in order to delineate the current state of research and to highlight profitable directions for future research. Methods: A rigorous scoping review method was used to select and analyze empirical studies published between the years 1988 and 2016 in order to systematically map research findings about fathers’ affective, behavioral, and cognitive involvement. Results: Fifty-four (n = 54) studies (quantitative n = 47 and qualitative n = 7) met inclusion criteria associated with three levels of review. Four main trends emerged: (a) paternal “stress” is a main concept of interest; (b) comparison of mothers and fathers on affective and cognitive involvement; (c) lack of a focus on fathers’ behavioral involvement, and (d) the absence of research designs that allow for examination of fathers’ unique perspectives. Conclusions: Fathers are generally underrepresented in research in the context of childhood neurodisability. While there is a lack of depth in this area of research, granular analyses revealed important and unique differences about fathers’ parenting experiences. Recommendations for research and practice are provided. Implications for rehabilitation Fathers are underrepresented in the parenting in childhood neurodisability literature. Fathers who report feeling competent in parenting and connected to their child also report less parenting distress and more satisfaction in their couple relationship and family environment. Rehabilitation and allied health professionals should include fathers in parenting/family assessments. Manifestation of distress may differ among family members. Rehabilitation and allied health professionals should offer individualized care that is attuned to the needs of all family members.