Munroe-Meyer Guild

Children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities often struggle to complete essential assessments due to anxiety and challenging behaviors. This grant aims to establish a Pediatric and Adult IDD Swallowing Assessment and Resource Program at MMI. The program will provide individuals with IDD the opportunity to prepare for their assessments prior to their appointments, thereby increasing success rates, minimizing stress, and ultimately leading to improved outcomes. Additionally, this initiative is expected to reduce wait times for assessments, decrease the need for rescheduling, and enhance patient and provider satisfaction, reduce wait times for assessments, decrease the need for rescheduling, and higher patient-provider satisfaction.

Individuals with ASD, IDD, and ADHD often face challenges in accessing local transportation and achieving independent mobility. There is a significant gap in existing driving education that does not address the diverse needs of these populations. This grant will create a pre-driving program to empower individuals with ASD, IDD and ADHD by equipping them with the skills and confidence to navigate driving safely. The program will also focus on creating a community driving track that teaches how to navigate public transportation.

Stays in the NICU increase the risk of negative outcomes for children. This risk is further exacerbated by barriers faced by families, such as mental health challenges, distance, transportation issues and competing responsibilities. This project intends to implement a tele-behavioral health platform, allowing parents to connect with their infants remotely and support essential parent-infant interactions that promote healthy development. Ultimately, these efforts aim to enhance parent engagement, responsiveness and sensitivity, ensuring that children reach their developmental potential.