by Adams, R. E., Lampinen, L., Zheng, S., Sullivan, V., Taylor, J. L., & Bishop, S. L. (2023)
More so than the actual frequency of activities, youth with ASD who felt that their current frequency of activities did not meet their needs had higher rates of depressive symptoms than those who felt they did meet their needs. Also, loneliness helped to understand relationship between social activities and depressive symptoms.
by Andrews, E. E., Ayers, K. B., Stramondo, J. A., & Powell, R. M. (2023)
The article by Andrews, Ayers, Stramondo, and Powell responds to a study about a young woman with a disability who was pressured to end her pregnancy. It discusses how sometimes people with disabilities face unfair treatment and challenges in making their own health decisions.
by Andrews, E. E., Pilarski, C. R., Ayers, K., & Dunn, D. S. (2023)
In the article by Andrews, Pilarski, Ayers, and Dunn, the authors discuss how supporting and fighting for the rights of people with disabilities (advocacy) is a key part of rehabilitation psychology. They suggest that this support should not just focus on individual patients but also involve working with the entire disability community. The article calls for psychologists to collaborate closely with people who have disabilities and with lawmakers to create better policies and practices.
by Ayers, K. B., & Schneider, M. C. (2023)
The chapter by Ayers and Schneider talks about how the latest technology in prenatal genetic testing is changing the way we view and manage disabilities. They discuss how this technology, which is easier and safer to use than older methods, affects the rights of people with disabilities and can lead to stereotypes and biases. The authors are highlighting the need to carefully think about how these new technologies impact the lives of people with disabilities and the policies surrounding them.
by Duncan, A., Liddle, M., & Adams, R. (2023)
Children with ASD that had high language skills but low daily living skills had more symptoms of psychological difficulties than the other children in the study. The results highlight the importance of targeting DLS in school-age children with ASD with psychological difficulties symptom to ensure that the gap between age and expected level of daily living skills does not continue to widen.
by Erickson, C. A., Tessier, C. R., Gross, C., Pedapati, E. V., Wink, L. K., Dominick, K. C., Adams, R. (2023)
Extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK1/2) is important in many aspects of neuronal development and has been hypothesized to be implicated in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The current study found evidence for this hypothesis with a group of ASD children having lower rates of ERK1/2 than a group of children with developmental disability and a group of typically developing children.
A Systematic Review Examining Caregivers of Color Experiences with the Diagnostic Process of Autism Spectrum Disorder 
by Fisher, A. P., Lynch, J. D., Jacquez, F. M., Mitchell, M. J., Kamimura-Nishimura, K. I., & Wade, S. L. (2023)
Caregivers of color are more likely than White caregivers to report that their child's healthcare providers do not treat them as a partner, spend enough time with them, or respect their culture and values. To better understand the experiences of caregivers of color with the diagnostic process of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), from the time they discuss developmental concerns with their child's primary care provider to when the diagnosis is shared with them, we systematically reviewed the literature and found 15 articles that explored the experiences of caregivers of color. Caregivers of color described that they faced large-scale barriers (e.g., cost of appointments, transportation, and long wait lists), negative experiences with providers (e.g., providers not taking their concerns seriously, making assumptions about caregivers, and delaying referrals for an evaluation), caregivers lack of knowledge of ASD, stigma, their family's thoughts and opinions, and cultural differences between providers and caregivers served as barriers during the diagnostic process. In addition, communication challenges were discussed and included use of medical and technical jargon, a lack of follow-up, language barriers, and difficulty obtaining high-quality interpreters. Some families described providers, other individuals, community networks, and self-advocacy as helpful during the diagnostic process. Large-scale changes (e.g., increases in the number of providers who are trained in diagnosing ASD) and provider-level changes (e.g., implicit bias training) are also important for improving caregivers' experiences.
by Jo, G., Habib, D., Varadaraj, V., Smith, J., Epstein, S., Zhu, J., Yenokyan, G., Ayers, K. & Swenor, B. K. (2022)
The article discusses a project that checked how easy it was for people with disabilities to use COVID-19 vaccine information and registration websites in the U.S. A special dashboard was created to gather and evaluate this information, helping to understand and improve website accessibility for those with disabilities.
Understanding Barriers and Facilitators of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Treatment Initiation and Adherence in Black and Latinx Children
by Kamimura-Nishimura, K., Bush, H., de Lopez, P. A., Crosby, L., Jacquez, F., Modi, A. C., & Froehlich, T. E. (2023)
Using a virtual platform, we completed 7 focus groups and 6 individual interviews with representatives from 4 stakeholders: experienced caregivers of children with ADHD, caregivers of children newly diagnosed with ADHD, family navigators, and clinicians who care for children with ADHD to identify barriers and facilitators to ADHD treatment initiation/adherence for Black and Latinx children. The primary barriers to ADHD treatment initiation/adherence identified were lack of support from school/healthcare/family members, cultural barriers, limited resources, limited access, and treatment concerns, with variability in endorsement across participants. Reported facilitators included caretakers having experience with ADHD, strong support, access to resources, and witnessing their child’s functional improvement with treatment. The results from this study have the potential to improve ADHD treatment initiation/adherence and outcomes for minoritized children through the development of culturally tailored, multipronged interventions.
by Lineberry, S., Bogenschutz, M., Dinora, P., & Ayers, K. (2023)
The article examines how understanding and information about COVID-19 vaccines influence whether people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families choose to get vaccinated. The study shows that knowing more about the vaccine, especially information from doctors and social media, helps increase vaccination rates. It also highlights how trust in medical providers plays a vital role in this decision-making process.
by Meredith, S., Brackett, S., Diaz, K. M., Freeman, K. G., Huggins, E., Khan, H., ... & Ayers, K. (2023)
The article by Meredith, Brackett, Diaz, Freeman, Huggins, Khan, and others, including Ayers, gives advice on how to make prenatal testing better and less biased. The team, which includes people with disabilities, healthcare experts, and ethicists, suggests ways to improve how patients are supported and informed. They focus on sharing information clearly and sensitively, and on teaching healthcare workers about disability rights. These suggestions aim to make prenatal testing more respectful and understanding of both expectant parents and people with disabilities.
by Nabors, L., Sanyaolu, O., Adabla, S., Ghussin, D., & Ayers, K. (2023)
The study by Nabors, Ayers, and their team in 2023 looked at how the "Eat and Exercise to Win Program" helped adults with developmental and intellectual disabilities get healthier. They checked how active participants were and what they ate before and after the program. The results showed that people were more active and ate better after the program, but other health habits didn't change much. This research shows how programs like this can really help adults with disabilities improve some of their health habits.
by Parenteau, C. I., Lampinen, L. A., Ghods, S. S., Taylor, J. L., Adams, R. E., Bishop, S. L., & Zheng, S. (2023)
Youth and young adults with ASD provided responses regarding everyday sources of happiness and unhappiness. Top themes identified in the happy domain emphasizes encouraging quality relationships and positive interactions with others and cultivating supportive work/societal environments to build a sense of achievement and value. Meanwhile, unhappiness accompanied responses about negative relationships and interactions.
by Pezzimenti, F., Durrani, E., Zheng, S., Adams, R. E., Bishop, S. L., & Taylor, J. L. (2023)
Youth and young adults with ASD were asked about the reasons for their job termination. Common reasons for job termination included work performance, social difficulties, attendance, and mental health challenges and these reasons for termination were more likely to attribute terminations to internal causes (related to the individual) than to external causes (environment-related).
