Over the past decade, growing attention has centered on identifying how best to support students with severe disabilities to access rigorous, relevant learning opportunities within the general education classroom (e.g., McLeskey, Waldron, Spooner, & Algozzine, 2014;Ryndak, Jackson, & White, 2013). Myriad legislative, policy, and research developments have changed expectations not only for what students with severe disabilities can and should learn, but also where they should receive this instruction. Although not disaggregated by disability severity, national data indicate 43% of students with intellectual disability, 57% of students with autism, and 28% of students with multiple disabilities now spend at least 40% of their day in general education 598780E CXXXX10.

This randomized controlled trial examined the efficacy of peer network interventions to improve the social connections of 47 high school students with severe disabilities. School staff invited, trained, and supported 192 peers without disabilities to participate in individualized social groups that met throughout one semester. Compared to adolescents in the "business-as-usual" control group (n = 48), students receiving peer networks gained significantly more new social contacts and friendships. Although many peer relationships maintained one and two semesters later, their spill over beyond the school day was limited. Students and staff affirmed the social validity of the interventions. We offer recommendations for research and practice aimed at improving the implementation and impact of peer network interventions in secondary schools.

Background There is a paucity of research on psychosocial treatments for depression in adults with intellectual disability (ID). In this pilot study, we explored the efficacy of a group CBT treatment that involved a caregiver component in adults with mild ID with a depressive disorder. Method Sixteen adults with mild ID and a depressive disorder participated in a 10-week group CBT treatment and 8 adults with mild ID with a depressive disorder served as a treatment as usual (TAU) control group. Adults with mild ID and caregivers completed measures of depressive symptoms, behavior problems, and social skills at pre-treatment, post-treatment, and a 3-month follow-up. Adults with mild ID also completed a series of tasks to measure their understanding of the principles of cognitive therapy pre- and post-treatment. Results The CBT group demonstrated significant decreases in depressive symptoms and behavior problems from pre-treatment to post-treatment and these effects were maintained at a 3-month follow-up. The CBT group demonstrated significant improvements in their ability to infer emotions and thoughts based on various situation-thought-emotion pairings from pre-treatment to post-treatment. Conclusions Findings indicate that adults with mild ID with a depressive disorder benefitted from a group CBT treatment with a caregiver component. Moreover, adults with mild ID appeared to benefit, at least in part, from the cognitive therapy components of the treatment, in addition to the behavior therapy components.

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The school playground provides an ideal opportunity for social inclusion; however, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often struggle to engage in appropriate social interactions in this unstructured environment. Thus, they may spend recess time alone. The FRIEND Playground Program is a structured, play-based intervention aimed at improving social interactions of children with ASD and other social challenges during recess. The current research study employed a multiple baseline across participant design to systematically evaluate whether this intervention yields increased social engagement and initiations with peers during recess. Seven participants with ASD or other social challenges received 20 min of direct intervention from trained playground facilitators during school recess each day. Results suggest that the FRIEND Playground Program produced meaningful increases in social engagement and social initiations from baseline among participants with ASD and other social challenges.