Alert

Holiday closures: our outpatient programs will be closed from Dec. 25, 2024 to Jan. 1, 2025. Regular services resume January 2, 2024. Day program will be closed from Dec. 23 to Dec. 27, 2024 inclusive, and will be closed on Jan. 1, 2025. Orthotics and prosthetics will be available for urgent care.

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Publications and Resources

Journal Publications

2023

King, G., Kingsnorth, S., McPherson, A. C., & Tajik-Parvinchi, D. (2023). Autonomy, self-realization, and psychological empowerment: A prospective mixed methods study of the effects of residential immersive life skills programs for youth with physical disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation. doi: 10.1080/09638288.2023.2243222 

Tajik-Parvinchi, D., Kingsnorth, S., & King, G (2023). Benefits of Residential Immersive Life Skills Programs: A prospective study of autonomy and self-efficacy gains and sex differences in youth with disability. Disability and Rehabilitation. doi:10.1080/09638288.2023.2216474

2022

King, G., McPherson, A. C., Kingsnorth, S., & Gorter, J. W. (2022). The Transformative Nature of Residential Immersive Life Skills Programs: Integrating Findings from a Five-Year Prospective Study of Program Opportunities, Youth Experiences, and Outcomes. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(23), 15865. doi:10.3390/ijerph192315865

2021

King, G., Kingsnorth, S., Morrison, A., Gorter, J. W., DeFinney, A., & Kehl, B. (2021). Parents’ perceptions of the foundational and emergent benefits of residential immersive life skills programs for youth with disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 110:103857. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2021.103857

King, G., McPherson, A. C., Kingsnorth, S., Gorter, J. W., Avery, L., Rudzik, A., & The Ontario Independence Program Research (OIPR) Team. (2021). Opportunities, experiences, and outcomes of residential immersive life skills programs for youth with disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation, 43(19), 2758-2768. doi:10.1080/09638288.2020.1716864

2020

Duff, C., McPherson, A. C., & King, G. (2020). Residential immersive life skills programs: A catalyst for facilitating emotional literacy development for youth with disabilities. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 23(5), 294-301. doi:10.1080/17518423.2019.1657198

Duff, C., McPherson, A. C., King, G., & Kingsnorth, S. (2020). Deconstructing residential immersive life skills programming through a pedagogical lens: Mechanisms that can facilitate learning for youth with disabilities. Journal of Research in Special Education Needs, 20(2), 121-129. doi:10.1111/1471-3802.12470

King, G., Hartman, L. R., McPherson, A. C., DeFinney, A., Kehl, B., Rudzik, A., & Morrison, A. (2020). Exploring the after-hours social experiences of youth with disabilities in residential immersive life skills programs: A photo elicitation study. Disability and Rehabilitation. Advance online publication. doi:10.1080/09638288.2020.1855262

2019

Duff, C., King, G., McPherson, A. C., Kingsnorth, S., & Rudzik, A. E. F. (2019). Residential immersive life skills programs for youth with disabilities: Experiences of parents and shifts in parenting approaches. Journal of Adolescence, 77, 139-146.  doi:10.1016/j.adolescence.2019.10.015

King, G., McPherson, A. C., Kingsnorth, S., Gorter, J. W., & DeFinney, A. (2019). Intervention strategies in residential immersive life skills programs for youth with disabilities: A study of active ingredients and program fidelity. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 22(5), 303-311.doi:10.1080/17518423.2018.1497722

Kingsnorth, S., Rudzik, A. E. F., King, G., & McPherson, A. C. (2019). Residential immersive life skills programs for youth with disabilities: a case study of youth developmental trajectories of personal growth and caregiver perspectives. BMC Pediatrics, 19, Article 413. doi.org/10.1186/s12887-019-1793-z

2018

King, G., McPherson, A., Mosleh, D., Hartman, L., Rapley, J., & Pinto, M. (2018). Program opportunities of residential immersive life skills programs for youth with disabilities. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 83, 233-246. doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2018.09.003

McPherson, A. C., Rudzik, A., Kingsnorth, S., King, G., Gorter, J. W., & Morrison, A. (2018). “Ready to take on the world’: Experiences and understandings of independence after attending residential immersive life skills programs for youth with physical disabilities. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 21(2), 73-82. doi:10.3109/17518423.2016.1141254

2016

King, G., Kingsnorth, S., McPherson, A., Jones-Galley, K., Pinto, M., Fellin, M., Timbrell, N., & Savage, D. (2016). Residential immersive life skills programs for youth with physical disabilities: A pilot study of program opportunities, intervention strategies, and youth experiences. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 55, 242–255. doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2016.04.014

McPherson, A. C., King, G., Rudzik, A., Kingsnorth,S., Gorter, J. W., & Ontario Independence Program Research (OIPR) team. (2016). Optimizing life success through residential immersive life skills programs for youth with disabilities: Study protocol of a mixed-methods, prospective, comparative cohort study. BMC Pediatrics, 16: 153. doi:10.1186/s12887-016-0694-7

2015

King, G., McPherson, A., Kingsnorth, S., Stewart, D., Glencross-Eimantas, T., Gorter, J. W., Jones-Galley, K., Morrison, A., & Isihi, A. M. (2015). Residential immersive life skills programs for youth with disabilities: service providers’ perceptions of experiential benefits and key program features. Disability and Rehabilitation, 37(11), 971–980. doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2014.949353

Kingsnorth, S., King, G., McPherson, A., & Jones‐Galley, K. (2015). A retrospective study of past graduates of a residential life skills program for youth with physical disabilities. Child: Care, Health and Development, 41(3), 374–383. doi.org/10.1111/cch.12196

King, G., McPherson, A., Kingsnorth, S., Stewart, D., Glencross-Eimantas, T., Jones-Galley, K., Morrison, A., Isihi, A. M., & Gorter, J. W. (2015). Residential immersive life skills programs for youth with disabilities: service providers’ perceptions of change processes. Disability and Rehabilitation, 37(26), 2418–2428. doi.org/10.3109/09638288.2015.1031285

 

Research Tools and Measures

These research tools are available to download at no cost through Holland Bloorview's Innovation list on Flintbox. 

MEQAS

The Measure of Environmental Qualities of Activity Settings (MEQAS) is a research and clinical tool designed to capture the opportunities that are available to young people, with and without disabilities, in specific activity settings—for example, a cooking class or a group workshop. The MEQAS contains the following scales Opportunities for Social Activities, Opportunities for Physical Activities, Pleasant Physical Environment, Opportunities for Choice, Opportunities for Personal Growth, and Opportunities to Interact with Adults. The MEQAS allows researchers to assess the qualities and opportunities available to young people within different activity settings. It can also be used to help design optimal programs for young people. The MEQAS has good evidence of reliability and validity.

The MEQAS is described in the following article:King, G., Rigby, P., Batorowicz, B., McMain-Klein, M., Petrenchik, T., Thompson, L., & Gibson, M. (2014). Development of a direct observation Measure of Environmental Qualities of Activity Settings. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 56(8), 763-769. DOI: 10.1111/dmcn.12400. (Open Access version)

SEAS

The Self-reported Experiences of Activity Settings (SEAS) is a reliable and valid measure of youth experiences in community and home leisure activity settings. The SEAS collects information in the following areas: Personal Growth, Psychological Engagement, Social Belonging, Meaningful Interactions, and Choice & Control. The SEAS is appropriate for youth with at least a Grade 3 level of language comprehension, including youth with different types of disabilities and those without disabilities. A version using picture communication symbols (SEAS-PCS™) is available for youth who communicate using augmentative and alternative communication.

The SEAS is described in the following article:King, G., Batorowicz, B., Rigby, P., McMain-Klein, M., Thompson, L., & Pinto, M. (2014). Development of a measure to assess youth Self-reported Experiences of Activity Settings (SEAS). International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 61(1), 44-66. DOI: 10.1080/1034912X.2014.878542 (Open Access version)

SPS-C

The Service Provider’s Strategies Checklist (SPS-C) can be applied to capture service providers’ use of intervention strategies in life skills programs, including teaching/learning techniques, cognitive strategies, handling/physical interventions, socially-mediated strategies, and non-intrusive strategies. The SPS-C was developed by OIPR research team members. They developed the 22 item checklist based on therapist-described strategies identified in our 2012 Service Provider’s Expertise study involving residential immersive life skills program service providers, who were interviewed about their key intervention approaches.