Educators need effective ways to build the communication skills of students learning to use aided augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and support their interactions with peers. This study used a multiple-probe-across-participants design to evaluate the effectiveness of a paraprofessional-facilitated peer network intervention to (a) increase peer interaction for students with complex communication needs and (b) investigate whether embedding peer-implemented aided AAC modeling within the intervention would increase students’ use of symbolic communication (i.e., aided AAC, signs, speech). Participants were four elementary-age students with intellectual disability or autism who used a speech-generating device or communication book. The peer network increased students’ overall interactions with peers but not their symbolic communication. Teaching peers to use aided AAC modeling through brief training and coaching resulted in increasing students’ use of symbolic communication within interactions with peers. Implications are offered related to supporting peer interaction, improving symbolic communication skills, and involving peers in social-communication interventions.

Amidst decades of attention directed toward improving employment outcomes for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), few efforts have been made to engage communities in identifying local solutions for expanding integrated employment opportunities. We examined the implementation and outcomes of "community conversation" events held in 6 geographically and economically diverse locales. Each event used an asset-based dialogue approach called the World Café ( Brown & Isaacs, 2005 ) to solicit ideas from a broad cross-section of community members on improving integrated employment that reflect local priorities and possibilities. Six key themes encapsulated the 1,556 strategies generated by the almost 400 attendees. Although considerable consistency was found among the categories of strategies raised across events, the manner in which those individual strategies would be implemented locally reflected the unique accent of each community. Attendees also viewed these events as promising and productive pathways for identifying next steps for their community. We offer recommendations for community-level intervention efforts and suggest directions for future research.

Families are essential partners in efforts to elevate the employment outcomes of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). We examined the employment-related expectations, preferences, and concerns of 673 parents and other family members of adults with IDD. Participants prioritized paid integrated employment over sheltered options, and such perspectives were strongly associated with the recent employment status of their family member with IDD. In addition, they valued qualitative dimensions of a potential workplace (e.g., personal satisfaction, social interaction opportunities) more highly than prevailing employment metrics (e.g., rate of pay, hours per week, benefits). Multiple factors informed the views of parents and other family members regarding integrated employment and the extent to which their family member with IDD had been employed previously in the community. We offer recommendations for research, practice, and systems change efforts aimed at raising expectations for and access to integrated employment for adults with IDD.