3cisd

3C Institute

Interactive E-Learning to Promote Successful Postsecondary Employment Outcomes for Students with Intellectual Disabilities

ACL/NIDILRR
ID: 90BI0021-01-00
PI: DEBRA CHILDRESS
TERM: 09/15 – 09/17

Employment is essential for helping individuals with intellectual disabilities achieve independence, financial security, and self-sufficiency to be active members in the community as well as foster a higher quality of life more generally. However, only 25% of individuals with intellectual disabilities are employed two years after high school. Utilizing 3C’s proprietary dynamic e-learning platform, the goal of this SBIR project was to create the first self-paced, adaptive job skills intervention designed specifically to meet the learning styles and social-emotional needs of students with intellectual disabilities. The end product, WORK (Web-based Occupational Resource Kit), enhances students’ preparedness for postsecondary employment, optimizing likelihood of success in the workforce following completion of high school. During Phase II, we accomplished three technical objectives. First, we conducted iterative software development and testing with key stakeholders to inform the development of the program content and interface. Second, we developed implementation materials, such as the Online Implementation Center, where providers can access program functions and implementation support tools. Third, we conducted pilot testing of the product with secondary students with intellectual disabilities to assess the usability and feasibility of the product in its intended educational delivery setting.

Through development of the proposed WORK product, we: 1) engaged secondary students with intellectual disabilities in a customized online interactive environment for scaffolded learning and practice; 2) increased educators’ access to the intervention through easy to use and feasible technology; 3) strengthened the home-school partnership through integrated resources, reports, and activities for easy sharing with parents; and 4) enhanced educators’ skills for implementing the intervention through online professional development tools. The low cost and usability of the product ensure maximal feasibility and significantly increases the reach of this novel tool for benefiting special educators and students with intellectual disabilities. Through this SBIR project, the WORK product provides instruction, support, and interactive exercises based on individual needs to promote the development of critical employment, self-determination and advocacy skills of students with intellectual disabilities thereby supporting these individuals in achieving and maintaining employment.

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DEB CHILDRESS, PHD

Chief of Research and Learning Content

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Childress obtained her PhD in psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Prior to coming to 3C Institute, she served as a research associate and a postdoctoral fellow in the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill working on a longitudinal imaging study aimed at identifying the early markers of autism through behavioral and imaging methodologies. She has 19 years of autism research experience, during which she has examined the behavioral, personality, and cognitive characteristics of individuals with autism and their family members. Dr. Childress also has experience developing behavioral and parent report measurement tools, coordinating multi-site research studies, and collecting data from children and families. She has taught courses and seminars in general child development, autism, and cognitive development at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Expertise

  • autism
  • early development
  • behavioral measurement
  • integrating behavioral and biological measurement

Education

  • Postdoctoral fellowship, Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities (Institutional NRSA-NICHD), University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • PhD, developmental psychology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  • BS, psychology (minor in sociology), University of Iowa

Selected Publications

  • Elison, J. T., Wolff, J. J., Heimer, D. C., Paterson, S. J., Gu, H., Hazlett, H. C., Styner, M, Gerig, G., & Piven, J. (in press). Frontolimbic neural circuitry at 6 months predicts individual differences in joint attention at 9 months. Developmental Science.
  • Wassink, T. H., Vieland, V. J., Sheffield, V. C., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., Childress, D. & Piven, J. (2008). Posterior probability of linkage analysis of autism dataset identifies linkage to chromosome 16. Psychiatric Genetics,18(2),85-91.
  • Losh, M., Childress, D., Lam K. & Piven, J. (2008). Defining key features of the broad autism phenotype: A comparison across parents of multiple- and single-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 147B(4):424-33.
  • Wassink, T. H., Piven, J., Vieland, V. J., Jenkins, L., Frantz R., Bartlett, C. W., Goedken, R., … Sheffield, V.C. (2005). Evaluation of the chromosome 2q37.3 gene CENTG2 as an autism susceptibility gene. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 136, 36-44.
  • Barrett, S., Beck, J., Bernier, R., Bisson, E., Braun, T., Casavant, T., Childress, D., … Vieland, V. (1999). An autosomal genomic screen for autism. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 88, 609-615. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-8628(19991215)88:63.0.CO;2-L
  • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Landa, R., Santangelo, S., Jacobi, D. & Childress, D. (1997). Personality and language characteristics in parents from multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Medical Genetics (Neuropsychiatric Genetics), 74, 398-411.
  • Piven, J., Palmer, P., Jacobi, D., Childress, D. & Arndt, S. (1997). Broader autism phenotype: Evidence from a family history study of multiple-incidence autism families. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 185-190.