Attention parents, family members, paid caregivers, and professionals who care for or provide services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) -
This training is for you!
This training will be offered online.
Complete your registration and you will receive handouts electronically before the training event.
You will need to download the free Zoom program for your computer or cell phone. https://zoom.us/meetings. We will email to the online link for the training in an email prior to the training.
Course Description:
Access to accurate information healthy relationships and physical intimacy for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities is lacking in today's society. Many family members and caregivers struggle with discussing the topic of relationships, intimacy, sexuality and safety and also with how to present the information in a way that the person with developmental disability will understand. Further information to assist caregivers on providing this education to those they care for is also limited. Availability of trainings or high costs of healthy relationship curricula prevent caregivers, schools or other agencies from providing the education themselves. The importance of this type of training for caregivers is undeniable as people with I/DD are 4 to 7 times more likely to experience sexual assault than people without disabilities. A lack of access to accurate information contributes to the likelihood that people with I/DD may experience abuse and/or exploitation. In an effort to better prepare people with I/DD fore healthy relationships is a must! Thus, it is necessary to empower caregivers so they can empower those they care about. This will be an open and honest discussion about sexuality and supporting your family member or the person you support to feel safe.
Approved for 2 SW Clinical CEU hours and 2.5 CLE hours application pending.
Training will be cancelled and rescheduled if minimum registration number of 15 participants is not met.
Learning Objectives:
Outcome 1: Participants will increase knowledge about how disability impacts sexual development.
Outcome 2: Participants will increase knowledge about responses to questions about sexuality.
Outcome 3: Participants will increase knowledge to support healthy sexuality for people with developmental and intellectual disabilities including informed consent, safety, and protection.
Who Should Attend?
Family Members
Caregivers
Professionals
People with (Self-Advocates) with Developmental
and Intellectual Disabilities
Attendees must pre-register online. There is no fee to register.
On-site registration is not available.
This training is provided in collaboration with the
Louisiana Developmental Disabilities Council.
QUESTIONS?
sharon@teamdynamicsweb.com 985-624-3514
The Presenters:
Dr. Rebecca Mandal-Blasio is the Clinical Director in Louisiana for Autism Spectrum Therapies and is a BCBA-D. She leads a team of BCBA Supervisors and Behavior Interventionists serving families in and around the New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and the Florida Parishes areas. A Louisiana native, Dr. Mandal-Blasio received her Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Southern Mississippi and completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine as part of the Neurobehavioral Outpatient Unit and Pervasive Developmental Disorders Clinic. She also completed a Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of North Carolina- Chapel Hill's Center for Development and Learning where she studied mental health issues in people with developmental disabilities across the lifespan. She is a licensed psychologist in the state of Louisiana and the former Director of the Northlake Resource Center on Developmental Disabilities where she conducted statewide training for caregivers and professional on topics related to people who have a dual diagnosis of developmental disabilities and psychiatric/behavior problems. Dr. Mandal-Blasio has presented on these topics nationally and internationally in addition to publishing articles and chapters.
Sharon Delvisco, DSW, RSW, MSW has over 30 years of experience. Sharon enjoys advocating for people with disabilities. She has provided supported employment, supported living, community connections, mentoring, behavior and life skills support for people with all abilities, their families and the agencies that provide services to live in the community. She believes all people should be supported to live the lifestyle of their choice in the community. “Separate is not equal” is the guiding principle for all her work and advocacy efforts in the human services field. Sharon is an advisor for the Louisiana People First Northshore Chapter self-advocacy group. She has experience organizing, facilitating, and developing training for people with disabilities, their families and the agencies that provide community-based services. She has planned conferences, events, facilitated board retreats, developed and provided training in a variety of locations. She has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of New Orleans and a master’s degree in social work from Southern University at New Orleans. Sharon received her doctorate in Social Work Innovation from USC School of Social Work. Sharon is employed as a Training and Course Development Associate with Team Dynamics, LLC.
