October 23rd Workshop for NIDRR Grantees to Focus on Systematic Reviews & Single-subject Experimental Designs

Ralf W. Schlosser and Oliver Wendt will present Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses of Single-subject Experimental Designs (SSEDs), a workshop for NIDRR grantees and staff. The workshop, sponsored by the National Center for the Dissemination of Disability Research (NCDDR), will be held October 23, 2008, at the Holiday Inn—National Airport in Arlington, VA (8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.). There is no charge for registration but participants are responsible for their own travel and lodging arrangements and costs. Only 30 spaces are available, so please register as soon as possible.

SSEDs typically rely on within-subject experimental controls and use of time series data to establish the effectiveness of an intervention. The adoption of evidence-based practices in the disability, health care, and rehabilitation fields demands that practitioners do not rely on any one individual study but rather the aggregated evidence from a synthesis of studies using SSEDs. Schlosser and Wendt will highlight the rationale for and potential contributions of systematic reviews and meta-analysis of SSEDs and discuss how syntheses of SSEDs differ from traditional systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

Schlosser is professor and chair of the Department of Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology at Northeastern University and director of Clinical Research at the Center for Communication Enhancement, Children’s Hospital of Boston at Waltham. Wendt is an assistant professor in Special Education, and Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences at Purdue University. Both Schlosser and Wendt are active in the international Campell Collaboration (C2). Schlosser is co-chair of the C2's new Disability Subgroup.

New Funding Around Autism, Knowledge Translation for Technology Transfer

SEDL's Disability Research to Practice, of which the National Center for Dissemination of Disability Research is a part, has been awarded more than $2 million by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR) for work on two new projects. The first is in partnership with the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at the University of Central Florida; the other as a subcontractor with the new Center on Knowledge Translation for Technology Transfer at State University of New York - Buffalo (SUNY - Buffalo).

The partnership between SEDL and the Center for Autism and Related Disabilities at the University of Central Florida (UCF CARD), focuses on improving vocational rehabilitation and transition services for persons with autism and related disorders (which are known as autism spectrum disorders or ASDs). Research activities include conducting two systematic reviews, implementing a rigorous process for identifying and validating vocational rehabilitation best practices, producing cases studies of individuals with ASD and their families, and studying the statewide network of CARD centers in Florida. For this work, SEDL was awarded $1.75 million over a 5-year period.

The initiative is important due to the fact that rates of ASD are increasing, while employment rates for people with disabilities are declining. People with ASD experience even lower employment rates than other persons with disabilities. Project goals include building new knowledge and understanding, on-the-ground changes within the vocational rehabilitation system, and increased employment among persons with ASDs.

The second award is a subcontract to SEDL from SUNY - Buffalo. It amounts to $294,000 over a 5-year period. SUNY's new Center on Knowledge Translation for Technology Transfer (KT3) will support and improve knowledge translation efforts of technology-focused NIDRR grantees. SEDL will work with the KT3 staff to help NIDRR grantees develop and implement plans for knowledge translation and technology transfer. In addition, SEDL will support the project's knowledge dissemination and utilization components including production of two webcasts each year on knowledge translation and technology transfer topics. SEDL will recruit presenters and participants and provide a Q&A forum as a follow up to each webcast. SEDL will also produce technical briefs each year for NIDRR grantees to introduce new and relevant information about knowledge translation and technology transfer, and will organize and facilitate a community of practice for NIDRR's technology grantees and other stakeholders.