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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Jul 16

New @camhnews.bsky.social study: RCT of mindfulness for autistic adults. Program was feasible, acceptable & changes reported were only evident in those in the mindfulness arm. Working together with #autistic folks to design interventions for them matters. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Virtual group–based mindfulness for autistic adults: A randomized controlled trial - Yona Lunsky, Madelaine Carter, Sue Hutton, Jan Wozniak, Sheng Chen, Jonathan Weiss, 2025

There is evidence for mindfulness as a mental health intervention for autistic adults, but most of the research has focused on in-person interventions. This ran...

journals.sagepub.com

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Jun 26

looking forward to listening! Thanks for sharing

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Jun 26

You can see the blog and read our full newsletter here: mailchi.mp/camh/hcardd-... (trying to join the bluesky community and get the hang of this new app...)

June 2025 H-CARDD Connects: Find Out What's New!

mailchi.mp

Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Jun 26

In this month's blog for the H-CARDD newsletter I focused on community - how to build it, and maintain it and accessibility considerations tinyurl.com/BlogJune2025

Community - June 26, 2025 | Notion

Community

tinyurl.com

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Reposted by Yona Lunsky

Sibling Studies Network @siblingstudies.bsky.social · May 29

Please do join our online event next on 25th June: 'Siblings, Disability and Care: Anthropological and Co-Created Perspectives'. With @pblock8.bsky.social Helen Ries Dima Kassem @nikitahayden.bsky.social @tomjryan99.bsky.social
Programme here: tinyurl.com/mr2ejrt7
Sign up here: tinyurl.com/mra86v38

Flyer for an event as follows:
Siblings, Disability and Care: Anthropological and Co-Created Perspectives.
Co-Creation During Times of Transition.
This online event builds an understanding of the impact of major life transitions on sibling relationships – particularly the emotional, social and caregiving dynamics involved. We will look at mutual care relationships as a form of access intimacy, activist affordances, and worldmaking between disabled and non-disabled siblings. We will discuss possible directions for future research as well as recommendations for service providers, decision makers, parents and others to contribute to building sustainable, inclusive support systems and better overall outcomes. This project is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
The event is on Wednesday 25th June 2025 at 6-7.30pm BST and 1-2.30. Email n.hayden@sheffield.ac.uk for information on signing up.

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · May 26

Good morning! Rising up for mental health #CAMHSunriseChallenge today with my team the Sunrise Superstars. You can check out the various tools and resources we have developed to support mental health and developmental disabilities here www.camh.ca/en/science-a...

give.camh.ca/site/TR/Even...

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Apr 2

this sounds like a really interesting study - thanks for sharing. We do training for public transportation in Toronto but not with peer trainers. Looking forward to what your brother and the team learn from this initiative.

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Reposted by Yona Lunsky

Katie Munday - Autistic and Living the Dream @kmunday.bsky.social · Apr 2

I'm super excited that my first first-author journal is published in Autism in Adulthood!

"Improving Substance-Use Services for Autistic Adults: Insights and Recommendations from Autistic Adults"

w/ @emergentdivergence.com , Chris Papadopoulos & Tanya Adkin.
www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...

Improving Substance-Use Services for Autistic Adults: Insights and Recommendations from Autistic Adults | Autism in Adulthood

Purpose: We aimed to explore autistic substance users’ experiences and their recommendations for improving substance-use services. Methods: We conducted an online cross-sectional questionnaire survey ...

www.liebertpub.com

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Apr 2

congrats for addressing this important topic and amplifying the voices of autistic adults in how to improve their care

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Reposted by Yona Lunsky

Donna Thomson @donna4walls.bsky.social · Apr 2

Let's make support for #caregivers a key policy linked to economic wellbeing in the #Canadian #election2025! @cdncaregiving.bsky.social Let's make #caregiving a public policy issue in our #election2025! Heather Aldersey Canadian Centre for Caregiving Excellence theconversation.com/governments-...

Governments must ensure caregivers have support to keep doing their vital work

Governments must ensure that caregiver support systems are in place, are flexible enough to respond to individual and family needs and enable natural support networks to flourish.

theconversation.com

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Apr 1

Today is National Caregiver Day. Grateful to all the ppl who support me as a working caregiver & grateful to all the caregivers I get to work with @camhnews.bsky.social - Shout out to Anna & Dewlyn Lobo who talked about caring for each other in this Defy Dementia podcast pod.co/defy-dementi...

Defy Dementia Episode 22: No Brain Left Behind - Defy Dementia – The podcast for anyone with a brain, by Baycrest

This episode of Defy Dementia explores the relationship between developmental disabilities and dementia. Guests Dewlyn and Anna Lobo, a daughter-mother duo who live in Ottawa, share their personal jou...

pod.co

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Apr 1

It is important that we understand how healthcare continued to evolve for folks with intellectual disabilities during the pandemic. Our @jidr-wiley.bsky.social study looked at health services pre-pandemic and then over the first two years of COVID across Ontario. Open Access

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research @jidr-wiley.bsky.social · Mar 31

Brief Report: Community and Hospital Healthcare Use by Adults With and Without Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in Ontario, Canada, During the First 2 Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Feb 12

Really enjoyed discussing our research on healthcare and autism with @mengchuanlai.bsky.social as part of the new #ICESOntario podcast #Disability #AutRes

ICES Ontario @icesontario.bsky.social · Feb 12

Autism research is evolving—and so is the conversation. In this episode of In Our VoICES, #ICESOntario scientist Yona Lunsky & CAMH scientist Meng-Chuan Lai explore how the focus has shifted to improving the lives of autistic individuals, especially in health care!
🎧 www.ices.on.ca/podcast/

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Jan 25

It takes a team - listen to health care trainees & work with them to find solutions. #AllTeachAllLearn - start early - trainees from different disciplines can be taught by teaching teams which include ppl w disabilities & family carers link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Evaluation of an Interprofessional Educational Intervention in Mental Health and Intellectual and Developmental Disability for Health and Social Service Trainees - Academic Psychiatry

Objective Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience high rates of poor mental health and challenges accessing timely and high-quality services. There is limited interpro...

link.springer.com

Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Jan 25

We now a lot about what works to engage students early. Our earlier review highlights that hands on learning & interprofessional training is important but more research is needed bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

A systematic review of intellectual and developmental disability curriculum in international pre-graduate health professional education - BMC Medical Education

Background Despite the increasing global population of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), this population remains especially vulnerable to health disparities through s...

bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Jan 25

I have been studying med ed & disability for a long time - students have reported that they don't get enough training consistently. But students are now coming into school with more experience & interest - I hope this student led project on over 400 med students helps move the dial here in Canada

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Jan 25

learning to better care to ppl w #IntellectualDisability #autism starts in med school - our new study led by Gabriel Tarzi shows that med students across Canada want to learn more about how to provide better care & personal experience makes a difference. bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Experiences, attitudes, and knowledge of medical students regarding intellectual and developmental disability: a Canadian study - BMC Medical Education

Background As the healthcare of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) shifts toward community-based services, physicians in all areas of medicine are more likely to care f...

bmcmededuc.biomedcentral.com

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Reposted by Yona Lunsky

Dr Lisa O'Leary @lisacoleary.bsky.social · Jan 19

Please see exciting opportunity to join our amazing international team of Associate Editors for the Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities. Please share with anyone who may be interested in applying.

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Dec 22

New to blue sky but excited to learn more about your work!

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Reposted by Yona Lunsky

Natasha Spassiani, PhD @nspassiani.bsky.social · Dec 21

Check out our latest coproduced article!

#inclusiveresearch
#IntellectualDisabilities

You Can't Exclude Us Anymore! A Critical Reflection of Inclusive Research and Teaching Opportunities for People With Intellectual Disabilities in University Settings onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

You Can't Exclude Us Anymore! A Critical Reflection of Inclusive Research and Teaching Opportunities for People With Intellectual Disabilities in University Settings

Click on the article title to read more.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Dec 20

You can learn more about our Project ECHO focused on developmental disabilities here - our first course in 2025 focuses on autistic mental health camh.echoontario.ca/programs-aidd/

Programs-AIDD - Project ECHO® Ontario Mental Health at CAMH and U of T

Adult Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities PROGRAM GOALS ECHO Ontario Adult Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities (AIDD) addresses the intersection of intellectual and/or …

camh.echoontario.ca

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Dec 20

Our recent paper led by Gabriel Tarzi in Academic Psychiatry demonstrates how by working together across sectors we can build the capacity of health and social care trainees to support ppl w intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. #AllTeachAllLearn rdcu.be/d4iCU

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Reposted by Yona Lunsky

Implementation Science Journals @implementsci.bsky.social · Apr 17

Identifying barriers and facilitators to primary care practitioners implementing health assessments for people with intellectual disability: a Theoretical Domains Framework-informed scoping review #impsci #ImpSciComms

implementationsciencecomms.biomedcentral.com/articles/10....

Identifying barriers and facilitators to primary care practitioners implementing health assessments for people with intellectual disability: a Theoretical Domains Framework-informed scoping review - I...

Introduction People with intellectual disability experience poorer health outcomes compared with the general population, partly due to the difficulties of accessing preventive care in primary care set...

implementationsciencecomms.biomedcentral.com

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Dec 20

My first discussion on this new app. So sorry I missed it earlier. Sadly, I have a feeling we struggle with similar issues on both sides of the pond, despite all the attention we draw to it. But lots we can learn from one another!

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Yona Lunsky @yonalunsky.bsky.social · Dec 20

What a lovely summary of my talk last month on antipsychotics and intellectual disability - thanks @profkrc.bsky.social !

Katherine Runswick-Cole @profkrc.bsky.social · Nov 19

Listening to @yonalunsky.bsky.social talking about #PsychotropicMedication as part of www.rsm.ac.uk/events/intel...

Thinking about links to www.mmu.ac.uk/research/pro...

@suecaton.bsky.social

Antipsychotics and intellectual disabilities: lessons from big data, little data and missing data

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