Background The COVID-19 pandemic has caused many adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) to lose their daily routines and social support, and as a result, many adults with IDD are increasingly reliant on their family caregivers. Siblings often play a crucial support role for their brothers and sisters with IDD. As such, this study aimed to describe the experiences of adult siblings of people with IDD during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods The Sibling Collaborative worked with researchers to codesign an online survey, completed by 91 people, exploring sibling supports and concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey also aimed to identify helpful resources for siblings during this time. Results The results showed that the majority of siblings are supporting their brother or sister with IDD during the COVID-19 pandemic and are concerned about the health and well-being of their brother/sister. The most common concern related to disruption of their brother's or sister's routine and activities. Although responses of older and younger siblings did not differ from each other, siblings whose brother or sister with IDD lived with family had some unique concerns relative to those whose siblings no longer lived with family. Siblings described how their own self-care and relationships with others, as well as support for their brother/sister, were particularly helpful during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusions Siblings are providing key support to their brother or sister with IDD during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they too must be supported. Siblings should be included in efforts to disseminate resources targeting people with IDD and their feedback and input must be obtained. It is also important to include sibling mental wellness as caregiver supports are created and implemented. More research is needed to further understand how to support sibling caregivers.

Objectives Although mindfulness-based interventions have been shown to be helpful in reducing psychological distress in autistic adults, limited research has explored virtual delivery in the autism community. We designed an adapted virtual group-based mindfulness intervention, based on input from autistic adults, and evaluated its feasibility in terms of demand, acceptability, implementation, practicality, adaptation, and limited efficacy testing. Methods Informed by an online needs assessment survey of 77 autistic adults, 37 individuals completed a six-week autism informed manualized course delivered virtually. Participants completed pre, post, and 12-week follow up, and also provided qualitative feedback. Results There was a demand for the course, adaptations were successful, and participants indicated good acceptability of the intervention. Open-ended feedback highlighted advantages and challenges with the technology, the benefits of connecting with other autistic adults, and unique aspects of the mindfulness instruction. Participants reported reduced levels of distress which were maintained at three-month follow-up, and increased mindfulness, and self-compassion. Conclusions Autism-informed adaptations to standard mindfulness-based interventions can lead to self-reported improvements in mindfulness, self-compassion, and distress by autistic adults. Continued research with outcome measures tailored toward autistic adults will be important, during and post-pandemic.

Background It is becoming more common for siblings to fulfill a caregiving role for their brother or sister, particularly because people with intellectual/developmental disabilities (IDD) are often living longer and outliving their parents. However, most of what we know about siblings of people with IDD is based on research with children, and limited studies on the adult sibling experiences in Canada have been published. To meet the support needs of Canadian adult siblings, “The Sibling Collaborative”, a grass‐roots initiative, conducted a needs assessment. Specific Aims The purpose of this study was to better understand the current challenges siblings experience and how requested resources may differ across three age groups: adults between the ages of 20 and 29 years, 30 to 49 years, and 50 years of age and older. Method A total of 260 siblings of individuals with IDD from across Ontario completed an online survey. Findings Siblings endorsed a relatively low rating of intensity of support that they provided for their brothers or sisters with IDD at the time of survey completion; however, the majority indicated that they intended to take a greater caregiving role in the future. Ratings of support differed by sibling age groups, as did challenges related to supporting brothers or sisters with IDD. Overall, participants reported a range of desired resources and preferred methods of accessing resources. Discussion Siblings' caregiving relationships with their brothers and sisters with IDD differed across age groups. Results from the current study indicate different supports may be needed for different age groups. As policies around the world continue to encourage continued family involvement in caregiving for adults with IDD, it is important to understand how systems can better support sibling caregivers.

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Purpose This study aims to explore social and motor impairments of children with autism through the perspectives of their caregivers. Social and motor deficits among people with autism are well documented. There is support to suggest a reciprocal relationship between social and motor deficits among people with autism, in that social deficits can act as a barrier to motor skill development and motor deficits can act as a barrier to social skill development. Design/methodology/approach This study explored social and motor impairments of children with autism through the perspectives of eight caregivers of children with autism. Findings Many salient findings emerged from the interviews conducted with caregivers, particularly concerning the social and motor development of their children. The relationships between their children’s social and motor deficits were also highlighted. Research limitations/implications It is important that health-care professionals educate parents about the consequences of motor impairments or delays and their associations with the development of social skills. As such, routine motor skill monitoring and assessments by caregivers and health-care professionals should be encouraged. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first paper to investigate motor and social deficits of children with autism from the caregivers’ perspectives.