“On-going coach and volunteer training are essential to providing high-quality, evidence-informed practices in sport settings. This study aims to extend Special Olympics Ontario and Special Olympics Canada’s online training platform for coaches and volunteers by working with athletes with intellectual disabilities, current Special Olympics coaches, and families of Special Olympics athletes. An iterative process will […]

On-going coach and volunteer training are essential to providing high-quality, evidence-informed practices in sport settings. This study aims to extend Special Olympics Ontario and Special Olympics Canada’s online training platform for coaches and volunteers by working with athletes with intellectual disabilities, current Special Olympics coaches, and families of Special Olympics athletes. An iterative process will […]

Children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are more likely to experience diminished wellness across multiple aspects of their lives and decreased quality of health compared to their peers without disabilities. Yet, little is known about how wellness is promoted or addressed for this group. Most research to date has focused exclusively on […]

The proposed research project aims to better enable positive sport experiences for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities by improving the quality of sports programs offered. In order to accomplish this objective, the study will evaluate the quality of two sport programs – Active Start and FUNdamentals – within the largest intellectual and developmental disability […]

The purpose of this project is to support the development of wellness-focused interventions, including weight management, mental health and social well-being for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). To date, the focus of health promotion interventions have primarily focused on typically developing children and adolescents, rather than those with IDD. The partner organization, Special […]

The change in the time intervals between adjacent heartbeats is known as Heart Rate Variability (HRV). The HRV of a well-conditioned heart is generally large at rest, whereas low HRV has been associated with adverse outcomes/conditions, including congestive heart failure, diabetic neuropathy, depression, and hospital admissions. As beat-to-beat variation is desirable, there has been considerable […]