Creating products and trainings by and for people with disabilities
One of the core values of dfusion is inclusion, and that is emphasized throughout our projects and products. Especially within our SkillFlix© series, we engage with the community throughout the development, iterative reviews, and testing of the products.
SkillFlix is our patented video modeling platform where we develop short videos of the individual small steps needed to demonstrate a skill. We’ve used this platform to teach pharmacists harm reduction skills, educators how to facilitate sexuality education, for parents of autistic youth to teach them about healthy relationships and sexuality health, and for autistic young adults to learn healthy relationship and independent living skills. We are currently developing and testing two new SkillFlix video libraries to teach skills to substance use disorder counselors to provide more effective treatment with autistic clients and for dentists to better mitigate problem behaviors and have more successful routine appointments for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
When we create these resources for people with IDD, we engage the community in the process. We form “Community Advisory Boards” with members of the populations, we hire neurodiverse script writers, reviewers, and actors to accurately portray the situations and scenes depicted in the skill building videos.
“I am excited to play the part of Rowan because I remember how terrible it was for me to go to the dentist when I was younger.”
~ Skillflix for Dental Professionals Actor
SkillFlix© for Dental Professionals
We recently recorded 20 short videos depicting two pediatric patients with IDD. Both patients were played by actors with the IDD that was explored in the scenes. One amazing young actress, who played the part of Amira, won the hearts of everyone on set. She is a wheelchair user and uses an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device. The whole cast and crew voted her “Best Attitude” of the day – a true joy to work with!
Working with her also meant modifying how we handled the shoot to accommodate and be responsive to her needs. Some spots moved slower or required more takes, some lines or directions needed to change, and one planned video was cut. During the 8-hour filming day, we stayed alert to her energy levels and prioritized keeping her safe and comfortable over the production schedule. There was no question that we would adjust to her needs instead of making her fit into a rigid timeline. None of that “sacrifice” mattered — what we gained by having her in all of her scenes made all of it worth it.
Being able to create this resource with a neurodiverse cast was a dream. The autistic actor who played the part of Rowan remarked that she was so excited to see us creating this resource, because she could remember how terrible going to the dentist was when she was younger. She had communication difficulties and the sensory “nightmare” of dental procedures was highly distressing. She does not like going to the dentist to this day, but she was willing to sit in the dental chair for a full day of filming because she understands that kids with even higher sensory sensitives or communication differences would be even more impacted.
Why Dental Care for Kids with IDD Matters to Me
This SkillFlix project is personal to me for another reason too. My own dissertation focused on helping kids with IDD to get through dental procedures without restraint and with less stress and anxiety. For many years, I worked directly with many families who had similar stories of children getting more and more upset with each subsequent dental visit, to the point of needing physical or chemical restraint just to get through a routine cleaning. When children and their parents and caregivers leave the dentist upset, those feelings stick and tend to be what they remember most clearly when they return for their next appointment months later. We are hoping that with SkillFlix for Dentists, we can create a tool that can teach the dentists how to frankly, make the appointment a little less awful.
While yes, I work here at dfusion and am biased, I know of several institutions where the “bottom line” is the highest priority. I know several other researchers who become routinely frustrated when they are asked to forgo inclusion for the sake of convenience. dfusion is a values-based and values-forward research company, and I am sincerely proud to work for a company where inclusivity and representation is embedded at every point we can.
About the Author: Izzy Schieber, PhD, is a research associate at dfusion. With a PhD in Behavioral Psychology and certificates in Public Health and Sustainable Development Practice, Izzy focuses on developing behavioral interventions that can be implemented and sustained in real-world settings. She has 15 years of experience working directly with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), as well as 14 years of research experience in behavioral health, behavioral pediatrics, behavior economics, mHealth development, sexual health, and problem behavior. Her approach is rooted in behavior analysis and implementation science to design both interventions that support behavior change and systems that can sustain those changes.