Professional Support Services for Children with Intellectual Disabilities and/or Autism Spectrum Disorders: Evaluation of a Clinical Consultation Model
This research project is an evaluation ofprofessional support services provided to children with intellectual disabilities (ID) and/or autism spectrum disorders (ASD) using a clinical consultation model. The site selected for this research is a developmental rehabilitation centre that has redesigned its child and adolescent services program from a specialist providing intervention model to a clinical consultation model in an attempt to address their growing waitlist for services and poor matriculation out of services. Measures of intervention goal attainment, parental perceptions of care (by the service provider) and parental sense of competence will be used to evaluate the efficacy of the intervention model. Childrenaged 6 to 18 with ASD or ID and their families who are beginning to receive service will be recruited for this study. It is predicted that the consultation service delivery model will result in attainment of treatment goals. Further, it is predicted that parental sense of competence as well as their perceptions of care (by the service provider) will predict greater goal attainment. This research will inform the rehabilitation centre as to the strengths and challenges of the implementation of the consultation model.