OT for Adults with Intellectual Disability

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For OT professionals working with adults with intellectual disabilities it can feel like there is a  lack of resources around best practices for working with this population. 

Today’s article flips that long-held narrative on its head. The authors set out to find evidence to inform OT for adults with intellectual disability—and to their own surprise they found so much it has become 3 papers. 

We’ll review the evidence they found to support intervention. Then we’ll welcome to the podcast two of the article authors, Meghan Blaskowitz and Wanda Mahoney. Together, we’ll unpack the practical implications related to intervention and assessments. 

Primary Journal Article Explored

When you log in, be sure to check out the OT Potential Club’s written breakdown of the following research article. Then, share your questions and thoughts with fellow practitioners.

• Evidence to Inform Occupational Therapy Intervention With Adults With Intellectual Disability: A Scoping Review

Supporting Research and Journal Articles

• Occupational therapy–related assessments for adults with intellectual disability: A scoping review
• Technology for Adults with Intellectual Disability: Secondary Analysis of a Scoping Review

More Resources for OTs Supporting Adults with ID

See all assessments in our OT Assessment Guide

• AOTA Developmental Disabilities SIS
• Assistive Technology Program
• AT Lending Libraries – for example, TechOwl in PA (affiliated with Temple’s UCEDD)
• Open Future Learning (Instagram)
• For transition supports for people with IDD: Think College, Regional IHE Consortiums
• Charting the LifeCourse
• University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Education, Research, and Service (UCEDD)
• Your state’s Developmental Disability Planning Council

Learning Objectives

• You will be able to identify evidence based OT assessments to utilize with adults with intellectual disabilities.
• You will be able to recognize evidence supported intervention strategies to utilize with adults with intellectual disabilities. 

Agenda

Intro (5 minutes)
00:00:00 Intro
00:00:57 OT Potential Podcast Intro

Breakdown and analysis of journal article (5 minutes)
00:02:53 Introduction to OT with adults with intellectual disability
00:03:46 Intent of this research
00:04:26 Methods
00:05:17 Results
00:08:01 Discussion and takeaways
00:09:04 Conclusion

Discussion on practical implications for OTs (50 minutes)

00:09:25 Intro to Wanda and Meghan
00:16:51 How this article came to be
00:21:19 What stands out now
00:26:43 Using the perspectives of our clients
00:33:32 Helpful assessments
00:42:29 Applicable interventions
00:49:07 Creating an inclusive practice
01:01:36 Resources to support adults with ID

Target Audience/Educational Level

Our target audience is occupational therapy practitioners who are looking to learn about OT for Adults with Intellectual Disability.  The educational level is introductory.

Financial and Non-financial Disclosures

It is the policy of OT Potential to disclose any financial and non-financial interest the provider or instructor may have in a product or service mentioned during an activity. This is to ensure that the audience is made aware of any bias of the speaker.

We here at OT Potential have no financial stake in this topic.  Our guests, Dr. Meghan Blaskowitz and Dr. Wanda Mahoney, also have no financial disclosures.

Speakers

Meghan Blaskowitz

Dr. Meghan Blaskowitz works at the intersection of occupational therapy and public health to develop innovative programs and research aimed at closing disparity gaps for youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Her research interests include the identification of health, education and employment disparities among people with IDD; IDD-related health policy; inclusive post-secondary education; and outcomes research on novel programs for people with disabilities.

She is committed to ensuring students with disabilities have equal access to higher education and competitive jobs; therefore, she developed and co-directs an inclusive post-secondary education (IPSE) program at Duquesne University — the Compass Program — in which students with intellectual disability can work towards certificate or bachelor’s degrees and are included in all facets of campus life.

She works with inclusive education colleagues across the state of Pennsylvania and U.S. to research student outcomes in response to IPSE, particularly in the areas of social capital, self-determination, and employment. Dr. Blaskowitz teaches courses that support her students to become culturally responsive OT practitioners in their work with clients, communities and populations.

Wanda Mahoney

Dr. Mahoney’s clinical interests focus on fostering participation with children, youth and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in home, school and community settings. Her research involves interpreting and enriching occupational contexts through two lines of scholarly activity. She works to understand and support how individuals with developmental disabilities engage in occupation, often with an emphasis on supportive social contexts and ascertaining the views of individuals with developmental disabilities. She also studies the historical context of people and events in occupational therapy, including LGBTQ issues. Dr. Mahoney teaches occupational therapy theory, evaluation and intervention with children and youth, and other content.

Since 1999, Dr. Mahoney has worked with individuals with developmental disabilities across the lifespan in home, school, and community settings in Louisiana, Arizona, New Mexico and Illinois. She earned her doctorate in occupational therapy from Nova Southeastern University in 2008 and transitioned to academia full time. She worked at Chicago State University and then Midwestern University, and her teaching responsibilities focused on occupational therapy theory, occupational therapy history and its implications for current practice, professional reasoning, evaluation and intervention with children and youth, and student research mentorship. She has continued to provide services with children and youth with developmental disabilities on a limited basis since transitioning to academia. To further develop her historical scholarship, Dr. Mahoney pursued a master’s degree in history and graduate certificate in women and gender studies, which she completed in 2018. She has been actively engaged in a variety of professional organizations including the American Occupational Therapy Association (Developmental Disabilities Special Interest Section and Pediatric Transitions Community of Practice), Society for the Study of Occupation, Network for LGBTQIA+ Concerns in Occupational Therapy, and Alliance for Disability in Health Care Education. Dr. Mahoney joined the faculty at Washington University in 2018. 

Sarah Lyon, OTR/L

Sarah’s passion is helping fellow OT practitioners translate evidence into daily practice. Sarah earned her BA in religion from St. Olaf College, then earned her master’s degree in occupational therapy from New York University in 2011.

Since then, she’s worked in numerous facilities, including a critical access hospital, an acute trauma hospital, and a state inpatient psychiatric hospital. Sarah is the founder/owner of OT Potential. Read more about OT Potential here.

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