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Evaluation ViewAttendees 8

Clinical Grand Rounds

Autism Spectrum and Developmental Disorders

Clinical Grand Round 1 - Advancing Mental Health Interventions for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Clinical Innovations

Friday, November 21, 2025
11:45 AM - 1:15 PM CST
Location: Imperial 12, Level 4
Earn 1.5 Credit
Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Developmental Disabilities, Underserved Populations
Level of Familiarity: Moderate to Advanced
Recommended Readings: Witwer, A. N., Walton, K., Held, M. K., Rosencrans, M., Cobranchi, C., Fletcher, R., Crane, J. M., Chapman, R., & Havercamp, S. (2022). A scoping review of psychological interventions, accommodations, and assessments for adults with intellectual disability. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 53(6), 615–625. https://doi.org/10.1037/pro0000474,   Bal, V.H., Wilkinson, E., Glascock, V., Hastings, R.P., & Jahoda, A. (2023). Mechanisms of change in Behavioural Activation: Adapting depression treatment for autistic people.  Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 30(4), 589-596.,   Witwer, A. N., Rosencrans, M. E., Taylor, C. A., Cobranchi, C., Krahn, G. L., & Havercamp, S. M. (2024). Working with Adults with Intellectual Disability and Clinicians to Advance Mental Health Treatment: Informing Practice Guidelines and Research. Journal of Mental Health Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 18(1), 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/19315864.2024.2308297,   ,  
Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) represent a highly complex and underserved population, facing significant mental health challenges that demand tailored supports. Clinically significant anxiety and depression are prevalent, yet individuals with IDD face widespread barriers to accessing evidence-based mental health care, exacerbating existing health disparities (Winch et al., 2022; Doherty et al., 2020). Despite the pressing need, there remains a severe lack of empirically supported interventions designed to meet the unique cognitive, communication, and adaptive needs of this population (Shepherd et al., 2019). Addressing this gap is a critical health care imperative.

This clinical roundtable explores clinical guidelines, prevention, and treatment approaches to enhance access to evidence-based mental health interventions for individuals with IDD. Dr. Andrea Witwer will outline key recommendations from her Psychotherapy Practice Guidelines: Working with Adults with Intellectual Disability and Co-occurring Mental Health Conditions, providing a foundational, evidence-based framework to guide clinicians. Dr. Jocelyn Kuhn will introduce a preventive treatment approach by highlighting key adaptations to Teens Achieving Mastery Over Stress (TEAMS), a depression and anxiety prevention intervention for youth with IDD. Ms. Ellen Wilkinson will present adaptations to behavioral activation for minimally verbal adults with IDD, highlighting both feasibility of approaches and strategies to enhance engagement. Finally, Dr. Blakeley-Smith will discuss adaptations to a cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) program Facing Your Fears for autistic adolescents with IDD and anxiety, including insights from stakeholder feedback from exit interviews.

This session will provide attendees with a deeper understanding of the importance of established mental health practice guidelines, the necessity of adapting evidence-based interventions through stakeholder-informed processes, and the practical tips to implementation. By addressing these key issues, this roundtable aims to advance equitable access to high-quality mental health care for individuals with IDD.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Describe strategies to promote comprehension of key concepts, enhance accessibility, and improve relatability of CBT for youth with I/DD.
  2. Identify multi-pronged CBT adaptation processes to support partnership with youth with I/DD and interdisciplinary teams.
  3. Identify key evidence-based practices for psychotherapy in adults with I/DD, including modifications and adaptations to facilitate treatment.
  4. Identify practice guidelines and resources available to clinicians providing psychotherapy to individuals with I/DD.
  5. Identify methods to incorporate stakeholder input to interventions as a means of improving intervention acceptability and outcome.
  6. Identify strategies to support the delivery of mental health care for minimally verbal autistic individuals.
  7. Identify the adaptations required to make behavioral activation therapy for depression accessible to minimally verbal autistic adults.