OT for Adults with Intellectual Disability

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.

More Resources for OTs Supporting Adults with ID

• 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

1. You will be able to identify evidence based OT assessments to utilize with adults with intellectual disabilities.

2. You will be able to recognize evidence supported intervention strategies to utilize with adults with intellectual disabilities.

• Intro

• Breakdown and analysis of journal article

  • Introduction to OT with adults with intellectual disability

  • Intent of this research

  • Methods

  • Results

  • Discussion and takeaways

  • Conclusion

• Discussion on practical implications for OTs

  1. Intro to Wanda and Meghan

  2. How this article came to be

  3. What stands out now

  4. Using the perspectives of our clients

  5. Helpful assessments

  6. Applicable interventions

  7. Creating an inclusive practice

  8. Resources to support adults with ID

Primary

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

Additional

• Occupational therapy–related assessments for adults with intellectual disability: A scoping review

• Technology for Adults with Intellectual Disability: Secondary Analysis of a Scoping Review

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.

OT Potential pays guest speakers an honorarium for their participation, either directly or to an institution of the speaker's choosing at their request. We invite guests whose expertise often comes from practices, programs, or building products in their field. Where a speaker has a financial interest in the subject of a course, we disclose it below so you can weigh it for yourself.

OT Potential's interest in this topic: We have no financial stake in this topic.

Speaker interests: Meghan Blaskowitz and Wanda Mahoney are authors of the primary journal article explored in this course. Neither has a financial interest in this topic to disclose.