Award Announcement
The National Research Consortium (NRC) on Mental Health in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (MH-IDD) is pleased to announce the 2024 NRC Innovations in Research awards:
Project Title: Promoting Self-Determination in Psychotherapy
Principal Investigator: Richard Champman, PhD, The Partnership for People with Disabilities, School of Education, Virginia Commonwealth University
Award Amount: $70,000 (two years)
Description: This project will develop an intervention manual that is based on the Self Determined Learning Model of Instruction and pilot a 10-week intervention with a group of people with IDD-MH.
Project Title: Determining the Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Efficacy of an Online, Self-guided, Single-Session ACT
Program to Improve Quality of Life for Autistic Adults Experiencing Mental Health Concerns
Principal Investigator: Ty Aller, PhD, of the Institute for Disability, Research, Policy, and Practice (IDRPP), Utah State University
Award Amount: $35,000
Description: This study will address issues related to acceptability and accessibility of mental health treatment for autistic adults by co-creating an online, single-session, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-based intervention with a participatory research team. Once created, the team will then determine its feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy in an open trial of the newly developed single-session intervention.
Project Title: Survey of Psychological Training in Autism and Intellectual Disability
Principal Investigator: Amy Keefer, PhD, the Center for Autism and Related Disorders at Kennedy Krieger Institute, Johns Hopkins
Award Amount: $19,658
Description: This project aims to examine current training opportunities in autism and intellectual disability research as well as the perceptions of, comfort with, interest in and knowledge about psychological services for autistic and intellectually disabled individuals. This information will be used to identify useful training resources and potential barriers to improving training within graduate psychology programs.
NRC Innovations in Research grants are funded through the generous donations of NRC board members. The NRC aims to promote strength based and inclusive research practices amongst research institutions, practitioners, UCEDDS, providers, people with lived experiences of IDD-MH, and families. NRC grants prioritize funding research conducted through engagement with people with lived experiences of IDD-MH, by new researchers and trainees. We have an open call for proposals. The next award cycle will occur in the fall of 2024 shortly after the NRC Annual Meeting on October 16th.
