Personal and Environmental Factors Influencing Self-Determination of People With Intellectual Disabilities and Epilepsy: A Scoping Review.

Only nine studies were included, mostly qualitative and with samples from 1 to 28 people, so this maps experiences rather than testing what improves self-determination. No grey literature and only English publications were searched, so relevant service reports or non-English studies may be missing. Participants varied in intellectual disability level and epilepsy type, and most studies did not describe epilepsy in detail, so findings cannot be pinned to specific epilepsy or disability severity. The quantitative evidence came from two single-case studies, so they cannot show that an intervention works for others. The research team did not include people with intellectual disabilities or epilepsy, and the analysis involved subjective interpretation.

The authors declared conflicts of interest, and Kempenhaeghe is named as funder, but the paper does not give details of the conflicts.

Do not read the two single-case studies as proof that choice-making training or preferred activities reliably reduce problem behaviour in people with intellectual disabilities and epilepsy. They describe one person each, and the scoping review does not test whether any factor causes change.