This is a study to develop and refine a Community Mobility Intervention for adolescents and young adults with intellectual disabilities that will help them plan community outings from start to finish to increase independence and participation in their favorite activity.
FOCUS GROUPS COMPLETED: 8 Focus Groups that represented key community members from rural, urban and suburban neighborhoods were conducted. Questions asked were about how skills are assessed, goals are determined and what is most important to think about when preparing young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to create and execute a community mobility plan. Our team is busy coding the data in preparation for an article, as well as taking what we learned and beginning to create our training materials for the manual.
FOCUS GROUP DATA ANALYZED: Our team has looked at all the data from the focus groups and we are planning to use it to answer 3 research questions.
- What skills are identified as priorities by YA (young adults) with ID, their family members, and professionals?
- What factors impact decisions about transportation planning and training for YA with ID, their family members, and professionals?
- What are psychological/psychosocial outcomes of increased independence in community mobility? OR How would YA with ID feel if they had increased independence in community mobility?
CREATING FIRST DRAFT OF CMP (Community Mobility Plan):
Check back in the fall for more info on the first draft of the CMP (Community Mobility Plan)!