Renáta Tichá

Overweight and Obesity Among Adults With Intellectual Disabilities Who Use Intellectual Disability/Developmental Disability Services in 20 U.S. States

The authors compare the prevalence of obesity for National Core Indicators (NCI) survey participants with intellectual disability and the general U.S. adult population. In general, adults with intellectual disability did not differ from the general population in prevalence of obesity. For obesity and overweight combined, prevalence was lower for males with intellectual disability than for the general population but similar for women. There was higher prevalence of obesity among women with intellectual disability, individuals with Down syndrome, and people with milder intellectual disability. Obesity prevalence differed by living arrangement, with institutional residents having the lowest prevalence and people living in their own home the highest. When level of intellectual disability was taken into account, these differences were reduced, but some remained significant, especially for individuals with milder disability.

Curriculum-Based Measurement in Writing: Predicting the Success of High-School Students on State Standards Tests:

We examined the technical adequacy of writing progress measures as indicators of success on state standards tests. Tenth-grade students wrote for 10 min, marking their samples at 3, 5, and 7 min. Samples were scored for words written, words spelled correctly, and correct and correct minus incorrect word sequences. The number of correct minus incorrect word sequences written in 7 and 10 min yielded the highest reliability and validity coefficients. Tables of Probable Success were created to illustrate the relation between scores on the progress measures and the state tests. Exploratory analyses of differences in correlations between English Language Learners (ELL) and non-ELL students revealed a similar pattern of results for the 2 groups, but correlations were stronger for ELL students than for non-ELL students.

Correlates of everyday choice and support-related choice for 8,892 randomly sampled adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in 19 states.

This article examines everyday choices made by 8,892 adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and support-related choices made by 6,179 adults with IDD receiving services from 19 state developmental disabilities program agencies that participated in the 2008-2009 National Core Indicators Project. Controlling for physical and sensory impairment, age, behavioral support, communication, and state, people in residential settings with 16 or more people had less everyday choice than those in other living arrangements. People with mild and moderate IDD had more control over everyday choices when living in their own homes, whereas people with severe and profound IDD had more control when living in agency homes of 3 or fewer residents. For people of all levels of IDD, institutional settings of 16 or more residents offered the lowest levels of everyday choice. Controlling for the same covariates, individuals with all levels of IDD living in their own homes had significantly more support-related choices than those in any other residential arrangement. Controlling for individual and residential setting characteristics, the state in which sample members lived was notably predictive of support-related choice. Overall, the tested variables accounted for 44% of the variability in everyday choice and 31% in support-related choice.

Place of residence and preventive health care for intellectual and developmental disabilities services recipients in 20 states.

Objective. We identified trends in the receipt of preventive health care by adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities by type of residential setting. Methods. We used data from the 2008–2009 collection round of the National Core Indicators (NCI) program. Participating states drew random samples of adults receiving developmental disabilities services. The study was observational, with both self-report and report by proxy. Once the random samples were drawn in each state, data were collected using the NCI Adult Consumer Survey. Trained interviewers administered the survey in person. Results. The likelihood of a person receiving preventive care procedures was related to age, level of intellectual disability, mobility, health status, and state. Type of living arrangement also affected whether a person received these health services, even after controlling for state, level of disability, and other personal characteristics. In general, people living with parents or relatives were consistently the least likely to receive preventive health exams and procedures. Conclusion. With growing numbers of adults being served in the family home, educational and policy-based efforts to ensure access to preventive care are increasingly critical.

Comparing observational software with paper and pencil for time-sampled data: A field test of Interval Manager (INTMAN)

In this article, we describe the Interval Manager (INTMAN) software system for collecting timesampled observational data and present a preliminary application comparing the program with a traditional paper-and-pencil method. INTMAN is a computer-assisted alternative to traditional paper-and-pencil methods for collecting fixed interval time-sampled observational data. The INTMAN data collection software runs on Pocket PC handheld computers and includes a desktop application for Microsoft Windows that is used for data analysis. Standard analysis options include modified frequencies, percent of intervals, conditional probabilities, and kappa agreement matrices and values. INTMAN and a standardized paper-and-pencil method were compared under identical conditions on five dimensions: setup time, duration of data entry, duration of interobserver agreement calculations, accuracy, and cost. Overall, the computer-assisted program was a more efficient and accurate data collection system for time-sampled data than the traditional method.

The impact of individual and organisational factors on engagement of individuals with intellectual disability living in community group homes: a multilevel model

BACKGROUND Being engaged in daily activities is a strong indicator of quality of life for individuals with intellectual disability (ID) who live in small community group homes. This study aimed to identify individual and organisational factors that predict high levels of engagement. METHOD Individuals with ID (n = 78), direct support professionals (DSPs; n = 174) and supervisors (n = 21) from 21 US group homes participated in the study. For each individual with ID, we conducted 80 min of observation at the persons residence. Information was also gathered regarding demographic characteristics, DSP competence, supervisor years of experience and management practices. Data were analysed using multilevel modelling. RESULTS On average, individuals were engaged in social activities 12% of observed time and non-social activities 35% of the time. Individuals with greater adaptive skills who were supported by more competent staff showed significantly higher levels of social engagement. Individuals with less severe deficits in adaptive behaviours and less challenging behaviour showed higher levels of non-social engagement. Although none of the factors related to group homes were significant, 24% of the variance in non-social engagement existed among group homes. CONCLUSION These results suggested that engagement is a dynamic construct. The extent to which an individual with ID is engaged in daily life is a result of interplay between the individuals characteristics and the group home environment. Future research is needed to investigate the influence of variables specific to the group home on the engagement level of individuals with disabilities.

Technical Characteristics of General Outcome Measures (GOMs) in Reading for Students with Significant Cognitive Disabilities.

This study examined the technical characteristics of newly created general outcome measures (GOMs) in reading for students with significant cognitive disabilities. The participants were 31 students with significant cognitive disabilities, and the GOMs used produced reliable data. Early results establishing the validity of the GOMs suggest that Rimes, K–4 Science Content Word Identification, Simple Sentence Maze, and Frys Word Identification GOMs are the most promising for predicting student reading performance. Functional Pictures and Signs, Mixed Letter Identification, Frys Word Identification, and K–4 Science Content Word Identification showed potential for measuring reading progress. These preliminary results suggest that GOMs can be a useful tool for teachers to use to predict and monitor the progress of students with significant cognitive disabilities in reading. More research is needed.

Association of state-level and individual-level factors with choice making of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities

BACKGROUND State-level factors have not been examined in research on choice, despite findings of between-state differences. AIMS To examine both individual and state-level factors associated with choice. METHODS AND PROCEDURES We used multilevel modeling to explore two choice scales, support-related and everyday choice, based on the National Core Indicators (NCI) data from 2013-14. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS At the individual level, milder ID, greater mobility, fewer problem behaviors, answering questions independently, communicating verbally, and living in a non-agency setting, particularly independent settings, were associated with more choice for both scales. State-level factors overall explained variance for both scales, but were more strongly associated with support-related choice. A higher proportion of people with IDD living independently within the state predicted more support-related choice. High cost of living within a state predicted less everyday choice. Higher proportion of people living with family and lower proportion being served within a state predicted more everyday choice. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS These findings suggest further study of choice in relation to policies that: (1) increase independent living for individuals with IDD, and (2) assist individuals/families living in high cost states. State differences on important QOL outcomes are likely to be associated with economic and system-based factorsbeyond individual differences.

Education for Diversity in Initial Teacher Preparation Programmes: a Comparative International Study

Despite the growing diversity in school polulation, many teacher educators fail incorporating diversity-related content into the courses they teach. As a result, numerous preservice teachers lack quality learning opportunities to become well versed on issues of diversity in meaningful ways. This article reports the results of an international study which explores preservice teacher perceptions of opportunity to learning to teach in diverse inclusive classrooms. A questionnaire was used to document the perceptions of a cohort of kindergarten and elementary student teachers from Spain and the US. Results indicated that strong international differences existed in the perceptions of respondents towards opportunity to learn theoretical aspects of teaching for diversity (e.g., know intervention strategies to meet student diverse educational needs), opportunity to learning to teach inclusively (e.g., learn how to develop an inclusive curriculum), and opportunity to observe and analyse practical aspects of diversity teaching (e.g., conduct diversity-related field-work), all these differences favouring US respondents. The results highlight the need for increased attention to teaching diversity in preservice teacher education programmes. Implications for ongoing development of initial teacher preparation are discussed within the context of improving educators and student teachers’ training for diversity. Key words: Teacher education for diversity, opportunity to learning to teach, inclusive education, preservice teachers’ perceptions, international higher education.

School and classroom disabilities inclusion guide for low- and middle-income countries

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