Today, it is estimated that almost ten million people in the US live with an intellectual and developmental disability (IDD), a category that includes autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, and other disorders that affect an individual’s cognitive abilities, learning, and daily functioning.

When it comes to healthcare, this population faces numerous obstacles that have led to longstanding disparities—from increased mortality risk to higher rates of chronic conditions like obesity, asthma, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and epilepsy.

Care for patients with IDD requires specialized skills and highly individualized approaches. Clinicians must be able to diagnose signs and symptoms of illnesses and medical issues that often present differently than they do in patients without disabilities. One of the greatest barriers to improved health has been a lack of formal training available to the healthcare workforce.

Now, thanks to a major gift from Susanna Peyton ’83 MSN and John Campbell ’84 PhD, the Yale School of Nursing (YSN) is launching a new initiative to support healthcare education specifically focused on individuals with IDD. The couple’s gift, the second largest single donation in YSN’s history, supports the Strength Fund, an endowment they established to ensure that future generations of advanced practice nurses and midwifery students are equipped with the skills and understanding that are crucial for the IDD population.

“We are grateful for the generosity, commitment, and vision of Susanna and John,” says Azita Emami, dean of YSN. “Their remarkable gift will enable us to build an innovative, creative, and compassionate specialty curriculum that promises to transform healthcare for countless people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. I’m proud that YSN will now be a national leader in creating and providing this specialized nursing education.” 

An Inclusive, Accessible Curriculum 

Over the coming years, YSN will make changes to better integrate IDD healthcare education across the entire curriculum. The school will develop and launch a new master’s level concentration, including two new courses and a clinical experience focused solely on IDD. They will also incorporate IDD content and coursework into all current YSN specialties.

In the simulation and assessment lab, a hyper-realistic manikin made from a 3D body scan of a seven-year-old girl with Down syndrome will be available for students to practice their clinical skills, from routine procedures to critical emergencies, as they prepare to care for real patients. The school will also establish clinical rotations with preceptors in nearby hospitals and private practices who have expertise in treating and diagnosing patients with IDD, granting students opportunities to gain direct, hands-on experience.

Additionally, the initiative will launch a speaker series and bi-annual symposium with experts in the field, expand student home visits to interact with and learn from families with children with IDD, cultivate partnerships with community-based organizations and nonprofits such as the local Special Olympics, and develop an online Continuing Nurse Education course on best practices in IDD care for medical professionals outside of the YSN community. 

“This is not just a curricular upgrade; it’s a fundamental rethinking of how we view care,” says Associate Dean of Nursing Impact Christine Rodriguez, who is leading the initiative at YSN. “Every nurse, regardless of specialty or setting, will encounter individuals with IDD. They need to be armed with the right knowledge and advocacy skills along with a deep, empathetic understanding of how ableism, communication differences, sensory sensitivities, and, unfortunately, systemic neglect can all have a significant influence in the healthcare experiences of individuals with IDD.”

Impact Across All Healthcare Settings

“We are delighted to join YSN’s efforts to realize this vision,” says Peyton, who, after graduating from college, discovered her own passion for this area of care while working in a group home in Boston. Peyton was planning to attend law school, but a nurse practitioner who worked with the residents at the group home inspired her to change course and enter the master’s program at YSN instead. At the time, no nursing schools offered specialized training in care for individuals with IDD, so Peyton specialized in psychiatric nursing.

While at Yale, she met Campbell, who was earning his doctorate in economics. They soon married and welcomed their first child, who was born with Down syndrome. As parents, their commitment to improving healthcare for individuals with IDD deepened. “I developed a new and profound appreciation for the personalized frontline support that nurses provide,” says Campbell. “Since Yale is a leadership institution for nursing education in this country, it seemed natural to us to try and help it be a leader in this specialty.”

“Our greatest hope is that graduates of YSN will go out into other medical and healthcare communities with these teachings and attitudes and build on them,” says Peyton, adding that she believes the skills students gain can also help them become better nurses even when they’re not interacting with people with IDD.

As YSN leads the way in reimagining education, practice, and policy for patients with IDD, Peyton and Campbell hope others will join them in support. “We’ve tried to give a gift that is large enough to get the initiative going, but it doesn’t exhaust all the possibilities or address every need,” says Campbell. “We very deliberately wanted to create a fund that doesn’t have our names on it in order that all donors who appreciate this cause would feel comfortable adding to it.”