Several IOD faculty and staff were published in a recent special issue of the Developmental Disabilities Network Journal, and two were interviewed on the journal's podcast! The special issue and podcast both focused on the mental health aspects of intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Joan B. Beasley and Luther Kalb, director and chair respectively of the National Research Consortium on MH-IDD, served as guest editors for the special issue. They joined the "Author Insights" podcast to discuss how the special issue came together and highlight the need for more research in this area, such as research supported by the NRC and other universities around the country.
Click here to listen to the podcast.
"We all have mental health challenges at one point or another in our lives, whether faced with crisis situations, trauma, or innately as part of who we are, and it's true for people with IDD," Beasley said.
People with IDD still face many barriers to receiving mental health services, Beasley and Kalb told the podcast host. These barriers include the dehumanizing perception that people with IDD don't have the capacity to have mental health needs, stigma surrounding mental health in general, under-recognition of the diversity of people with IDD, the lack of integration between disability and mental health infrastructure, and workforce shortages.
To address these barriers, the NRC emphasizes inclusive and strength-based research in four priority areas:
- the application of positive psychological methods;
- the development of evidence-based inclusive interventions;
- building capacity to reduce service disparities; and
- implementation of accessible measures.
People with IDD also have strengths to share. Focusing on these strengths is a key component of positive psychology. Positive psychology approaches can and should be studied to address the needs of people with IDD and mental health service experiences, Beasley and Kalb wrote in their editorial introducing the special issue.
"We're hoping to achieve inclusive strength-based research so that we would move the field in mental health and IDD," Beasley said.
"So if any of the listeners out there in podcast land are doing strength-based research, I encourage anyone to visit the NRC website," Kalb said.
Click here to read the special issue.
Articles with authors from the IOD are as follows:
- Advancing Strength-Based Inclusive Mental Health Research in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
By Luther Kalb and Joan B. Beasley - The Person Experiences Interview Survey: A Measure Addressing Ableism in Mental Healthcare for Patients with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
By Micah Peace Urquilla - Professional Development Strategies for Treating People with IDD and Mental Health Needs
By Jennifer L. McLaren, Elizabeth Grosso, and Karen L. Weigle - Project ATTAIN: Advancing Trauma-Informed Care for Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and/or Gender Diverse Youth
By Jennifer L. McLaren and co-authors
The Developmental Disabilities Network Journal is an open-source academic journal focused on rigorous scholarship about disability systems and the value and impact of the Developmental Disabilities network. It is based at the Utah State University Institute for Research, Policy & Practice, a partner of the NRC.
