Positive identity development through community engagement among youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

BACKGROUND: Identity development in individuals with disabilities is often negatively impacted by exclusion, marginalisation, and stigma. However, meaningful opportunities for community engagement can serve as one pathway towards establishing positive identity. This pathway is further examined in the present study. METHODS: Researchers used a tiered, multi-method, qualitative methodology consisting of audio diaries, group interviews, and individual interviews with seven youth (ages 16-20) with intellectual and developmental disabilities, recruited through the Special Olympics U.S. Youth Ambassador Program. RESULTS: Participants' identities incorporated disability while simultaneously transcending the social limits of disability. Participants viewed disability as one aspect of their broader identity, shaped by leadership and engagement experiences such as those offered by the Youth Ambassador Program. CONCLUSIONS: Findings have implications for understanding identity development in youth with disabilities, the importance of community engagement and structured leadership opportunities, and the value of tailoring qualitative methodologies to the subject of the research.

Meeting the COVID-19 Deadlines: Choosing Assessments to Determine Eligibility.

Timely identification of children with disabilities is required by federal special education law (Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act, 20 U.S.C. § 1400, 2004). During COVID-19, school psychologists have been faced with the challenge of completing valid, comprehensive, and diagnostic assessments when traditional methods are not an option. Traditional methods of testing have become nearly impossible due to social distancing requirements; therefore, alternate methods need to be considered. These alternate methods may be unfamiliar to the practitioner and/or lack validation to use with confidence. This study offers a prospective guide to help practitioners make safe and valid test selection and interpretation decisions during a pandemic. Examples of assessments analyzed using this guide are provided for the reader. In addition, a case study is provided as an example.

It's right, but risky too: Inclusive behavior as a positive risk in adolescence.

INTRODUCTION: Although adolescent risk-taking is often characterized as negative, more recent work focuses on risk as a spectrum of negative to positive behaviors. We propose inclusive behavior as a new category of positive risk-taking focused on helping and facilitating social belonging for those who are marginalized or excluded. We use a qualitative approach to explore adolescents' perceptions of the risks involved in inclusive behavior and the factors that motivate acting inclusively at school. METHODS: 30 focus groups were conducted at 16 middle and high schools across the United States. The cross-sectional sample consisted of 194 students in grades 6-12 (11-19 years old). Students were majority female (61%) and self-identified as white (68%). Data were analyzed using qualitative thematic analysis. RESULTS: Students often perceived the decision to act inclusively as risky because it involved weighing uncertain outcomes, including potential costs (e.g. peer rejection) and rewards (e.g. friendship). Students primarily focused on the role of peer group influence, but also discussed how school norms, the identity of the peer they were trying to include, and their own motivations affected the perceived risk involved in acting inclusively. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides an exploratory look at adolescents' experiences of inclusive behavior. Findings support the current conceptualization of positive risk-taking behavior and suggest a multi-level framework for inclusive risks. Exploring the factors that make inclusive behavior differentially risky across individuals and contexts is a first step towards understanding how inclusive behavior fits within the positive risk-taking framework and designing interventions to reduce the risks involved.