Richard P Hastings

University of Birmingham · School of Social Policy and Society

People with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities can be excluded from research and relatively little is known about the experiences of people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities and their carers during COVID‐19. This paper aims to further explore the impact on this group via information provided by paid and family carers...

Background Childhood bullying is a public health priority. We evaluated the effectiveness and costs of KiVa, a whole-school anti-bullying program that targets the peer context. Methods A two-arm pragmatic multicenter cluster randomized controlled trial with embedded economic evaluation. Schools were randomized to KiVa-intervention or usual practic...

Objective This study explored sibling relationships from the perspective of children with Williams syndrome (WS) and their nondisabled (ND) siblings. Background WS, a genetic condition with a profile that can include intellectual disabilities, hypersociability and anxiety, might be predicted to impact sibling relationships, but this has not been q...

To counteract stigma and discrimination a series of five lessons Talk about Learning Disability ( Talk‐LD ) to promote young people's understanding and acceptance of people with intellectual disabilities were developed for the Scottish secondary school curriculum. This study examined the feasibility of carrying out a randomised control trial compar...

Background People with intellectual disabilities commonly experience multiple barriers to ‘going out’. Aims This paper explores what barriers prevented people from going out, and if the extent and nature of going out changed over time for people with intellectual disabilities as the COVID‐19 pandemic progressed. Methods Data are drawn from a wide...

Background: There is a lack of interventions for specific phobia in children and adolescents with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. Objectives: The objectives were to: (a) develop an intervention or specific phobia, together with an intervention fidelity checklist and logic model, and evaluate candidate outcome measures, together with...

Background: Interventions for anxiety need to be adapted to meet the needs of autistic people with moderate to severe learning disabilities and successfully modelled before evidence about efficacy can be generated from clinical trials. Objectives: The objectives were to: (1) adapt a behavioural intervention for anxiety, develop an intervention fide...

Background Within England, children and young people entering police custody are referred to Liaison and Diversion (L&D) teams. These teams liaise with healthcare and other support services aiming to divert children and young people away from the criminal justice system. Although targeted psychological interventions are not typically offered to chi...

Objectives We report the effect of quality of therapy delivery on outcomes in a randomized, controlled trial of behavioural activation (BA) and guided self‐help (GSH) for depression in adults with intellectual disabilities. Methods A study specific measure of quality was used in a linear mixed effect model to determine the effects therapy and ther...

Background The aim of this feasibility study was to adapt and model a behavioural intervention for anxiety with autistic adults with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities. Method Twenty-eight autistic adults with moderate or severe intellectual disabilities, 37 carers, and 40 therapists took part in this single-group non-randomised feasib...

Objective: There is a growing body of evidence on suicide risk in family carers, but minimal research on parents caring for children with disabilities and long-term illnesses. The aim of this study was to conduct the first dedicated research on suicide risk in parent carers and identify: (1) the number of parent carers experiencing suicidal though...

Background and aims Although there are several published systematic reviews and meta-analyses of the effectiveness of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) protocol, no previous review has focused on factors affecting its implementation. The present review attempted to identify potential barriers and facilitators in implementing PECS, as...

Reading is an essential life skill that can lead to independence. However, many individuals with autism and/or intellectual disabilities find this skill difficult to acquire. Computer-assisted instruction (CAI) is one approach that combines recommended reading elements (e.g., phonics, fluency, and comprehension) with evidence-based teaching strateg...

To enhance social inclusion of people with (mild) intellectual disabilities, policy tends to focus on increasing their informal supportive networks. Family members, mostly parents, are often the main providers of informal support to people with mild intellectual disabilities. Previous research has shown the utility of social capital as a theoretica...

Natural disasters happen across the world. The situations are different but the disruption to children's education and wellbeing is similar. This study focused on the school context changes caused by the COVID‐19 global disaster, and the impact of these changes on children's mental health. The aim was to better understand the associations between a...

Purpose With a historic lack of attention to synthesis methods such as systematic review and meta-analysis and a lack of randomised controlled trials, the evidence base for behavioural interventions for children and adults who are autistic or are diagnosed with developmental disabilities is patchy. The Sharland Foundation Developmental Disabilities...

Group Stepping Stones Triple P (GSSTP), is an evidence‐based intervention for parents of children with intellectual disability that aims to improve child behavioural difficulties. GSSTP was designed to be delivered face‐to‐face, but during the COVID‐19 pandemic some services started delivering it remotely. The evidence base for remote intervention...

Mainstream anti‐bullying interventions can reduce primary school‐level victimisation by 15–16% and bullying perpetration by 19%–20% ( Aggression and Violent Behavior , 2019; 45 : 111–133). Less is known about anti‐bullying interventions for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) even though they are at least 2–4 times more li...

Positive Family Connections is a coproduced, positively oriented, family-systems program for families of children with a developmental disability aged 8–13 years. The study was a feasibility cluster randomized-controlled trial which was registered prospectively (International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number 14809884). Families (clusters...

The wellbeing of parents of children with autism residing in mainland China remains understudied. We aimed to examine whether and how parental perceived social support, individualism, and collectivism acted together to moderate the relationships between child behavior problems and parental psychological distress in Chinese parents of children with...

Research with routine care data (RCD) is not always a transparent process to the people receiving care for disabilities or impairment. This study aimed to understand the point of view on secondary use of care data for research from the people with visual or intellectual disabilities themselves. In total 36 participants from the UK and the Netherlan...

Longitudinal research is crucial to fully assess the putative impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on children with an intellectual disability in special school settings—ideally drawing on data pre‐pandemic to be able to evaluate later impact. Data on challenging behaviour and adaptive skills were collected annually for 348 students in one special schoo...

Background Within England, children and young people (CYP) who come into police custody are referred to Liaison and Diversion (L&D) teams. L&D teams have responsibility for liaising with healthcare and other support services while working to divert CYP away from the criminal justice system but have traditionally not provided targeted psychological...

Background We evaluated the clinical and cost-effectiveness of manualised sensory integration therapy (SIT) for autistic children with sensory processing difficulties in a two-arm randomised controlled trial. Trial processes and contextual factors which may have affected intervention outcomes were explored within a nested process evaluation. This p...

Background Almost no research has been published reporting on evaluations of the effectiveness of psychological interventions for people with severe to profound intellectual disabilities and depression. This paper describes the development and initial feasibility testing of an adapted Behavioural Activation therapy (BeatIt2) for this population. M...

Background Arabs with intellectual disabilities and/or autism may exhibit challenging behaviour that affects them and their caregivers. Early, appropriate intervention may reduce these effects. This review synthesised and critically appraised challenging behaviour intervention research for this population. Methods All published empirical research...

Purpose Evidence of overprescribing of psychotropic medicines to manage challenging behaviour in people with intellectual disabilities has led to national programmes within the UK to promote deprescribing, such as stopping the overprescribing of medication in people (with learning disabilities, autism or both). To successfully implement deprescribi...

Ensuring families of children with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (e.g., developmental delay, intellectual disability, autism) can access early intervention and support is important. Current research indicates there are family‐level socioeconomic disparities of access to early intervention and support, however, there is limited evid...

Background People with severe to profound intellectual disabilities experience similar or higher levels of depression than those with more mild intellectual disabilities. Yet, there is an absence of evidence about how to adapt existing psychological therapies for this population. Method A behavioural activation intervention (BeatIt) for people wit...

Background During the COVID‐19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, many health services were withdrawn from people with learning disabilities, with negative impacts on people's health. What has happened to people's health and healthcare as we move beyond the pandemic? Methods Access to health services and health status were tracked for 550 UK adults w...

The Lifespan Sibling Relationship Scale (LSRS) has been validated in samples where neither sibling has intellectual or developmental disabilities. We sought to examine the construct validity of the LSRS with a sample of adult siblings of people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Adult siblings of people with intellectual or developmen...

Background Stigma contributes to the negative social conditions persons with intellectual disabilities are exposed to, and it needs tackling at multiple levels. Standing Up for Myself is a psychosocial group intervention designed to enable individuals with intellectual disabilities to discuss stigmatising encounters in a safe and supportive setting...

Cross-lagged panel designs were used to examine longitudinal and potential (bi)directional relationships between primary caregiver reported sibling relationship quality and the behaviors of children with intellectual disability (n = 297) and their closest in age siblings. The behavioral and emotional problems of the child with intellectual disabili...

Background Young children with an intellectual disability have a higher risk of developing challenging behaviour (CB). Early identification of risk factors for CB allows for earlier intervention. The aim of the current study was to assess the prevalence and correlates of CB in preschool‐aged children with an intellectual disability in Riyadh (Saudi...

Background One in five children with an intellectual disability in the UK display behaviours that challenge. Despite associated impacts on the children themselves, their families, and services, little research has been published about how best to design, organise, and deliver health and care services to these children. The purpose of this study was...

Aims To estimate the self-reported and parent-reported mental well-being of adolescents (aged 14 and 17) with/without intellectual disability in a sample of young people representative of the UK population. Methods Secondary analysis of data collected in Waves 6 and 7 of the UK’s Millennium Cohort Study . The analytic sample consisted of 10,838 ad...

Background Child criminal exploitation is a form of child abuse that poses a serious risk to the welfare, safety, and wellbeing of young people. Multisystemic therapy (MST) is an intensive family and community-based intervention for young people with anti-social behavioral problems, many of whom will be at risk of criminal exploitation. This protoc...

Bullying is a modifiable risk factor for poor mental health across childhood and adolescence. It is also socially patterned, with increased prevalence rates in more disadvantaged settings. The current study aimed to better understand whether school-level disadvantage is associated with different types of bullying roles, and whether it is a moderato...

The importance of reducing restraint and restrictive interventions in special schools has been recognised across the four nations of the UK. Government guidance for England and Wales, and recommendations produced by Restraint Reduction Scotland, both reference Positive behavioural support (PBS) as an evidence‐based approach that can be used to proa...

Bullying is a public health priority but to date, there is a lack of evidence‐based anti‐bullying programmes or interventions designed for use in special schools. KiVa is a successful anti‐bullying programme for mainstream schools currently used in 23 countries. This brief paper outlines the co‐development and adaptation of two KiVa lessons into Ki...

Mindfulness-based programs can help lower psychological distress among parents of children with developmental disabilities. However, less is known about the functions of mindfulness in relation to parental outcomes. In a cross-sectional survey, mothers of children with developmental disabilities (N = 313) reported on their child’s behavior problems...

Purpose This paper aims to outline the process of developing a new co-produced virtual group support programme called Positive Family Connections (PFC) aimed at family carers of children with a learning disability, or who are autistic, aged between 8 and 13 years. Design/methodology/approach Development process: family carers were recruited to dev...

Background In adults with an intellectual disability, health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) is often measured by proxy report. This cross‐sectional study investigated whether the mental health of proxy raters impacts the way they rate HRQoL. Methods In this study, 110 carers of adults with an intellectual disability completed measures of psycholo...

Background Social well‐being, including prosocial and peer relationship skills, independence and co‐operation, is a particularly important developmental outcome in intellectual disability (ID). The present study investigated pathways to social well‐being through the early years' family environment, particularly the role of parental investments in m...

The incorporation of mental well‐being provision into school curricula is increasingly the focus of government policy in the UK and internationally. However, it is not clear what well‐being programmes schools provide to pupils, and how these programmes are delivered. The current study was an online survey to assess the use of whole‐school well‐bein...

Background Family‐systems interventions have been proposed as one way of supporting families of people with an intellectual disability (ID) or who are autistic. This systematic review aimed to summarise what family‐systems interventions have been studied with this population, what evidence there is for their effectiveness and families' experiences...

Purpose: The present study investigated school absence among 1,076 5–15 year-old children with neurodevelopmental conditions (intellectual disability and/or autism) approximately one year following the start of COVID-19 in the UK. Methods: Parents completed an online survey indicating whether their child was absent from school during May 2021 and t...

Background: No previous studies have reported predictors and moderators of outcome of psychological therapies for depression experienced by adults with intellectual disabilities (IDs). We investigated baseline variables as outcome predictors and moderators based on a randomised controlled trial where behavioural activation was compared with guided...

Traditionally, cluster randomized controlled trials are analyzed with the average intervention effect of interest. However, in populations that contain higher degrees of heterogeneity or variation may differ across different values of a covariate, which may not be optimal. Within education and social science contexts, exploring the variation in mag...

This study examined predictors of access to early support amongst families of 0-6-year-old children with suspected or diagnosed developmental disabilities in the United Kingdom. Using survey data from 673 families, multiple regression models were fitted for three outcomes: intervention access, access to early support sources, and unmet need for ear...

Background: The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS; Tennant et al., 2007) is yet to be validated in the intellectual disability (ID) population. The aim of this study was to report the development process and assess the psychometric properties of a newly adapted version of the WEMWBS and the Short WEMWBS for individuals with mild to...

Background: Our STORM intervention was developed for people (16 +) with intellectual disabilities to enhance their capacity to manage and resist stigma. The current study describes the adaptation of STORM for (synchronous) on-line delivery in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Aims: To adapt the manualised face-to-face STORM group interventio...

Background Clear evidence of overprescribing of psychotropic medicines to manage behaviours that challenges in people with intellectual disabilities has led to national programmes within the U.K. such as NHS England’s STOMP to address this. The focus of the intervention in our review was deprescribing of psychotropic medicines in children and adult...

Well‐designed computer or app‐based instruction has a number of potential benefits (eg increasing accessibility and feasibility of high‐quality instruction, reducing time and resources required for training expert delivery, saving instructional time). However, variation in implementation can still affect outcomes when using educational technology....

Background: Children with neurodevelopmental conditions have high levels of school absence. During the COVID-19 pandemic, schools closed for many students. The relationship between home learning during school closures and subsequent school attendance requires attention to better understand the impact of pandemic education policy decisions on this...

Background: It appears that students with intellectual disability (ID) are more frequently absent from school compared with students without ID. The objective of the current study was to estimate the frequency of absence among students with ID and the reasons for absence. Potential reasons included the attendance problems referred to as school ref...

Background Relationship quality between a parent and a child typically differs between families with a child with intellectual disability (ID) and families with other children. Parent-child relationship quality matters in ID as it has been linked with child outcomes. However, there are few research studies examining factors that are related to pare...

Background Understanding sibling relationship quality is important, as it is associated with mental health outcomes in both childhood and adulthood. Arguably, these relationships are even more important for individuals with intellectual disability, as siblings can be important sources of care, support, advocacy and friendship for one another. The i...

The social and emotional wellbeing of young people is an area of increased focus for policy and practice. Schools are required to provide a holistic approach to education that includes teaching and implementing programmes designed to promote resilience and address difficult behaviours. Preliminary studies in the USA have shown promise for DBT STEPS...

Background Understanding the correlates of behaviours that challenge (CB) can help in both identifying children with intellectual disabilities (ID) at risk of developing CB and designing support programmes and interventions. Aims This study explores the correlates of CB exhibited by children with ID in special educational settings in the UK. Meth...

Background: Longitudinal research is needed to strengthen evidence for risk factors for challenging behaviour in children with intellectual disabilities and to understand patterns of change over time. Methods: Data on challenging behaviour were collected for 225 students in one school over four annual time points and a range of potential risk co...

COVID-19 brought disruptions to children’s education and mental health, and accelerated school de-registration rates. We investigated Elective Home Education (EHE) in families of children with a neurodevelopmental condition. A total of 158 parents of 5–15 year-old children with neurodevelopmental conditions (80% autistic) provided information on re...

Background Recent research suggests that having a brother or sister with autism may contribute to increased positive or negative emotional or psychological impact on siblings. Aims To use a novel multidimensional data analysis method to further understand outcomes for siblings of autistic children. Methods and Procedures 318 siblings of children...

Research on teaching mathematics to children with autism spectrum disorder using parents as mediators is limited. The purpose of the present study was to carry out an initial evaluation of an adapted numeracy programme with three children with autism spectrum disorder from Arabic families in the UK by training and supporting their parents to delive...

Family theories have been used in intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) research as a legitimizing tool for focusing on non-disabled siblings. Although there is value in understanding siblings’ outcomes, family theories have utility beyond this narrow scope. This chapter will draw on social learning theory, embedded family systems theorie...

Background During the Covid‐19 pandemic, there has been a worldwide increase in the use of digital technology. Many people with learning disabilities have learned new digital skills, taken part in online activities, and kept in touch with family and friends using video calls. However, the experiences of digital participation or nonparticipation for...

Research on the experiences of Arab families of children with autism living in non-Arab countries is scarce. A survey investigated the support needs, psychological distress, and parental relationships of Arab parents (n = 100) of children with autism living in the United Kingdom (UK). The survey consisted of five main questionnaires: a demographic...

The COVID-19 outbreak, and associated school restrictions affected the learning experience of students worldwide. The current study focused on the learning experiences of United Kingdom children with neurodevelopmental conditions, including autism and/or intellectual disability. Specifically, the aim was to examine families’ experience with school...

The preprint describes analyses that describe the experience of Elective Home Education in families of children with a neurodevelopmental condition in the UK

The preprint describes a study that aimed to describe the experience of home schooling /home learning in families of children with a neurodevelopmental condition in the UK approximately one year from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (2021)

This preprint describes analyses that examined the association between home learning (home schooling) and later school attendance problems in children with a neurodevelopmental condition during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: People with intellectual disabilities are at risk of experiencing stigma and require the skills and confidence to deal with stigma in their daily lives. Method: Development and piloting of a 5-session manualised psychosocial group intervention designed to increase the capacity of people with intellectual disabilities aged 16+ to mana...

Concern has been expressed about the extent to which people with disabilities may be particularly vulnerable to negative impacts of the 2020 COVID‐19 pandemic. However, to date little published research has attempted to characterise or quantify the risks faced by people with/without disabilities in relation to COVID‐19. We sought to compare the imp...

Background Carers report unmet need for occupational therapy services addressing sensory difficulties in autism, yet insufficient evidence exists to recommend a therapeutic approach. Objectives Our aim was to determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of sensory integration therapy for children with autism and sensory difficulties...

Having a disability, in particular, an intellectual disability, is associated with Internet non-use. This article explores how people with intellectual disabilities used the Internet across the United Kingdom during the COVID-19 pandemic. In April to May 2021, 571 adults with intellectual disabilities were interviewed. Participants most commonly us...