Natasha Spassiani
natasha spassiani

Dr Natasha Spassiani

Lecturer

 0131 455 5654

  N.Spassiani@napier.ac.uk

  

Biography

I received my B.Sc. (Hons.) (2008) and M.Sc. (2010) from York University in the School of Kinesiology and Health Science, and my Ph.D. (2015) in Disability Studies from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Upon completing my Ph.D., I began a post-doctoral research fellowship at both the University of Toronto, Department of Psychiatry and at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), in the Adult Neurodevelopmental Services Research Unit. In October 2015, I began a limited-term assistant professor faculty appointment at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), where I lead the development of a transformative accredited curriculum entitled 'Arts, Science and Inclusive Applied Practice', which offers university students with intellectual disabilities a high academic standard of learning. In November 2016, I began working at Edinburgh Napier University in the School of Health and Social Care as a lecturer in learning disabilities.

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‘Now that I am connected this isn't social isolation, this is engaging with people’: Staying connected during the COVID‐19 pandemic

Journal Article
Spassiani, N. A., Becaj, M., Miller, C., Hiddleston, A., Hume, A., & Tait, S. (in press)
‘Now that I am connected this isn't social isolation, this is engaging with people’: Staying connected during the COVID‐19 pandemic. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.12478
Background The COVID-19 global pandemic has put adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities at greater risk of being socially excluded due to physical distancing. Tech...

‘It will make more people feel included if they can talk to them in their first language’: The experience of university students with an intellectual disability engaging in a formal Irish Sign Language Course

Journal Article
Spassiani, N. A., Clince, M., & Ó Murchadha, N. (2021)
‘It will make more people feel included if they can talk to them in their first language’: The experience of university students with an intellectual disability engaging in a formal Irish Sign Language Course. British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 49(4), 467-474. https://doi.org/10.1111/bld.12417
Accessible Summary Learning a second language can provide people with more opportunities to be included in society. For example, they could have more opportunities for em...

Experiences of health and aging for younger adults in long-term care: a social-ecological multi-method approach

Journal Article
Barber, B. V., Weeks, L. E., Spassiani, N. A., & Meisner, B. A. (2021)
Experiences of health and aging for younger adults in long-term care: a social-ecological multi-method approach. Disability and Society, 36(3), 468-487. https://doi.org/10.1080/09687599.2020.1751074
There is an increasing number of younger adults with disabilities becoming residents of long-term care (LTC) homes across Atlantic Canada. Moving younger adults into LTC is le...

Emergency department nurses’ knowledge, skills, and comfort related to caring for patients with intellectual disabilities

Journal Article
Spassiani, N. A., Abou Chacra, M. S., Selick, A., Durbin, J., & Lunsky, Y. (2020)
Emergency department nurses’ knowledge, skills, and comfort related to caring for patients with intellectual disabilities. International Emergency Nursing, 50, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ienj.2020.100851
Introduction Individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) are more likely to visit the emergency department (ED) more frequently than their counterparts without ID. Nurses ...

The Impact of Organizational Supports on the Person‐Centered Health of People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Journal Article
Friedman, C., Rizzolo, M. C., & Spassiani, N. A. (2020)
The Impact of Organizational Supports on the Person‐Centered Health of People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 17(1), 70-78. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12320
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have significantly poorer health than the general population. A key threat to health programs for people with IDD...

What is and isn’t working: Factors involved in sustaining community-based health and participation initiatives for people aging with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Journal Article
Spassiani, N., Meisner, B., Abou Chacra, M. S., Heller, T., & Hammel, J. (2019)
What is and isn’t working: Factors involved in sustaining community-based health and participation initiatives for people aging with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 32(6), 1465-1477. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12640
As people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) age it is important that I/DD agencies are prepared to support healthy aging in homes and in communities. Thi...

It's Okay to Teach People with an Intellectual Disability about Their Disability

Journal Article
Spassiani, N. A. (2018)
It's Okay to Teach People with an Intellectual Disability about Their Disability. The Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 31(3), 287-294
This paper introduces a newly accredited university programme for students with an intellectual disability (ID). The curriculum is largely based on disability studies pedagogy...

Self-management of health by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Journal Article
Friedman, C., Rizzolo, M. C., & Spassiani, N. A. (2019)
Self-management of health by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 32(3), 600-609. https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.12554
Background Self‐management of health includes people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) playing a key role in health management in collaborating with healt...

Community Based Dietician Services for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Journal Article
Friedman, C., & Spassiani, N. (2018)
Community Based Dietician Services for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 15(4), 343-349. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.12253
Background. People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience significantly poorer health outcomes and a shorter life expectancy when compared to the ge...

Using Photovoice as a Participatory Method to Identify and Strategize Community Participation with People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

Journal Article
Angell, A. M., Heffron, J. L., Spassiani, N. A., Heffron, J., Hammel, J., & Angell, A. (2018)
Using Photovoice as a Participatory Method to Identify and Strategize Community Participation with People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 25(5), 382-395. https://doi.org/10.1080/11038128.2018.1502350
Background: Adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) experience barriers to community participation, yet their insider experiences of environmental barri...

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