Participatory and inclusive approaches to empowering individuals with intellectual disabilities

People with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD) are co-leading an international movement to advance power sharing and collaboration in research between people with and without lived experience of disability. Inclusive research, or research conducted with co-researchers with IDD, centers the lived experiences of people with IDD in research which ensures research meets the needs, priorities, and preferences of the IDD community. However, inclusive research opportunities have been limited for people with IDD due to systemic barriers (e.g., limited training, few career pathways, low funding for positions, and institutional views). These barriers remain pervasive despite the millions of individuals globally that live with IDD. Those with IDD face numerous barriers in accessing inclusive educational and health supports. This is despite knowledge that when support program are co-created with the communities they are intended to support, these programs tend to be more acceptable and may lead to longer-term success. Given this, the goal of this Research Topic is to report on work from interdisciplinary teams that use novel approaches for engagement and inclusion of those with IDD in research. Articles across disciplines are encouraged, and can report on educational programs, basic, clinical and applied research, inclusive research methods, program development, public health, observational methods, or any other project that relies on robust engagement to improve the quality of the project. Manuscripts that focus on successful methods to include those with IDD in university settings are particularly welcomed, as are manuscripts that focus on underserved populations, and those who are not usually included in research teams. Across all submissions, we encourage a focus on practical approaches to increasing inclusion across diverse institutions and stakeholders, methods that promote meaningful participation and approaches that are broadly applicable across fields to promote inclusive teams.Themes this Research Topic is looking to consider include, but are not limited to: • Improving education, health and other outcomes for those with IDD and their families through multi-systems or inter-disciplinary approaches.• Engaged research projects and methods that can be implemented across fields to promote inclusive designs. • Manuscripts focusing on underserved groups (rural, diverse racial and ethnic groups, inner city, refugee communities, etc.).• Manuscripts from all fields that work with those with IDD, such as education, healthcare, allied health, psychology, sociology, rehabilitation, early intervention, behavioral intervention, vocational rehabilitation, or other systems that support individuals with IDDs. • Manuscripts utilizing community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods or other engagement strategies to meaningfully include all stakeholders in research processes.• Manuscripts that include those with IDD as authors, when appropriate. Topic editors: Eric J. Moody, Karrie Shogren, Ashley Taconet Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/82427/participatory-and-inclusive-approaches-to-empowering-individuals-with-intellectual-disabilities