Developmental Disabilities

Neurobiology of Trauma in People with Disabilities

Research consistently demonstrates that people with developmental disabilities are at increased risk for adverse life events, abuse, and trauma. Yet, little has been done to understand how trauma impacts the neurobiology …
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Neurobiology of Trauma in People with Disabilities

Research consistently demonstrates that people with developmental disabilities are at increased risk for adverse life events, abuse, and trauma. Yet, little has been done to understand how trauma impacts the neurobiology of people with developmental disabilities despite there being body of research and practice dedicated to understanding the impact of trauma on the brain and nervous system.

During this webinar, Dr. Frederika Theus – a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating people with developmental disabilities – will discuss how to adapt trauma-informed practices to meet the needs of survivors with developmental disabilities. She will contrast what is known about the neurobiology and impacts of trauma in people without disabilities and people with developmental disabilities. She will explore the implications of using a trauma-informed approach with people with developmental disabilities and provide practical suggestions for how to adapt trauma-informed responses to better meet the needs of these survivors.
Sexual Assault and Autistic Survivors

This webinar, featured Erica Blackwood of the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Olga Trujillo of Activating Change, who addressed the barriers autistic survivors face in seeking healing services …
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Sexual Assault and Autistic Survivors

This webinar, featured Erica Blackwood of the North Carolina Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Olga Trujillo of Activating Change, who addressed the barriers autistic survivors face in seeking healing services following sexual violence and the ways in which service providers can better meet their needs. This powerful webinar explored the lived experience of an autistic survivor and offered participants guidance on what accommodations are helpful as well as those things to consider for effective communication with autistic survivors.

Watch the webinar at your convenience.
Sexual Violence in the Lives of Indigenous People with Disabilities

Nearly 3 million people in the United States identify as “American Indian or Alaskan Native” (2010 U.S. Census). Due to systemic and historical oppression, individuals within these communities experience high …
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Sexual Violence in the Lives of Indigenous People with Disabilities

Nearly 3 million people in the United States identify as “American Indian or Alaskan Native” (2010 U.S. Census). Due to systemic and historical oppression, individuals within these communities experience high rates of sexual assault and have high rates of disability. This webinar looked at Indigenous survivors of sexual assault who also have a disability and the unique barriers they encounter in their healing journey.
Promising Practices for Serving Domestic Violence Survivors with Disabilities

This webinar featured a panel of experts who explored the unique barriers that people with disabilities have to navigate when seeking healing and the strategies that advocates employ to proactively …
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Promising Practices for Serving Domestic Violence Survivors with Disabilities

This webinar featured a panel of experts who explored the unique barriers that people with disabilities have to navigate when seeking healing and the strategies that advocates employ to proactively remove those barriers. Specifically, they explored the civil-legal needs of survivors with disabilities, the needs of survivors who acquire a disability through domestic violence, and the unique needs of Deaf survivors.
Centering Survivors with Disabilities in Your Organizational Policies

When survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors engage with your victim service organization or disability program, they are necessarily engaging with the policies that guide the delivery of your services. …
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Centering Survivors with Disabilities in Your Organizational Policies

When survivors with disabilities and Deaf survivors engage with your victim service organization or disability program, they are necessarily engaging with the policies that guide the delivery of your services. Regardless of they type of organization, failure to account for the lived experiences of survivors with disabilities in your organizational polices results in delays in service provision, confusion among staff about what is allowed, safety concerns among survivors, the provision of inadequate or unsafe services, or the denial of services completely.

This two-part webinar series examined key policies that victim service and disability organizations should have in place to account for unique circumstances in the lives of survivors with disabilities, including personal care attendants, service animals and guardianship.
Providing Accessible and Effective Services to Survivors of Sexual Assault with Disabilities

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and in support of survivors everywhere, we dedicated this month’s End Abuse of People with Disabilities webinar to lifting up promising practices for serving survivors …
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Providing Accessible and Effective Services to Survivors of Sexual Assault with Disabilities

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and in support of survivors everywhere, we dedicated this month’s End Abuse of People with Disabilities webinar to lifting up promising practices for serving survivors with disabilities. The webinar featured a panel comprised of a survivor with a disability, a national expert, and a local advocate, this webinar explored the unique barriers that people with disabilities have to navigate when seeking healing and the strategies that advocates can employ to proactively remove those barriers. The panelists provided practical guidance from their own experience to help you ensure that survivors with disabilities feel respected and supported within your programs

Panelists, Cathy Saunders, Self-Advocate with Illinois Imagines, Cierra Olivia Thomas-Williams, Prevention Specialist at Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence and Heidi Sue LeBoeuf, Counseling Director at Pathways For Change and facilitator Sandra Harrell, Associate Director, Center on Victimization and Safety led this discussion.
Ableism and Violence: A Plain Language Guide

This resource was created to be a plain language guide to ableism and the ways that ableism contributes to violence against people with disabilities. It is designed to help self-advocates …
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Ableism and Violence: A Plain Language Guide

This resource was created to be a plain language guide to ableism and the ways that ableism contributes to violence against people with disabilities. It is designed to help self-advocates understand ableism and its connection to violence against people with disabilities.
Innovations at the Intersection: Centering Survivors with Disabilities in the Movement

Survivors with disabilities are experts in their own lived experiences, so they should guide our work to ensure services are accessible and responsive to their needs. To meaningfully work with survivors with …
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Innovations at the Intersection: Centering Survivors with Disabilities in the Movement

Survivors with disabilities are experts in their own lived experiences, so they should guide our work to ensure services are accessible and responsive to their needs. To meaningfully work with survivors with disabilities, you need to make sure everything you do is accessible and inclusive.

In this panel discussion, self-advocates from Washington, D.C. and Kansas who are working to address domestic and sexual violence against people with disabilities will share how their work empowers them as advocates and how they have partnered with their team members to play a meaningful leadership role.

In the session, you will learn strategies for decision-making and power-sharing, tips for ensuring cognitive and physical access, and ways to empower survivors with disabilities with the tools and support they need to be equal peers in the work to address domestic and sexual violence.
Innovations at the Intersection: Supporting Survivors of Sexual Assault with a Survivor Support Packet

In our first Innovations at the Intersection webinar, we will highlight the Survivor Support Packet, a support guide for survivors of sexual assault with disabilities. If you are looking for …
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Innovations at the Intersection: Supporting Survivors of Sexual Assault with a Survivor Support Packet

In our first Innovations at the Intersection webinar, we will highlight the Survivor Support Packet, a support guide for survivors of sexual assault with disabilities. If you are looking for a tool to help you serve survivors with disabilities, the Survivor Support Packet, developed by and for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in collaboration with the rest of the Mass Rights for Change team, may be what you are looking for! The Survivor Support Packet includes a list of a survivor’s rights following sexual assault, a community resource list, scripts to help survivors reach out for help, self-care exercises, and tips for people supporting survivors with disabilities.

In this interactive discussion, we will talk about the need that led to the Survivor Support Packet, how it could be valuable in your community, and how you can create a similar, customized resource by partnering with self-advocates. You will also learn some of the strategies used in the Survivor Support Packet that could be helpful in working with survivors with disabilities you serve.
Just Ask: A Toolkit to Help Advocates, Attorneys, and Law Enforcement Meet the Needs of Crime Victims with Disabilities

People with disabilities and Deaf people experience violent crime at three times the rate of people without disabilities, yet healing services and the legal system are often not accessible to …
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Just Ask: A Toolkit to Help Advocates, Attorneys, and Law Enforcement Meet the Needs of Crime Victims with Disabilities

People with disabilities and Deaf people experience violent crime at three times the rate of people without disabilities, yet healing services and the legal system are often not accessible to them. There are a number of steps agencies can take to make their services more accessible and welcoming for survivors with disabilities and Deaf victims, including asking every victim if they need accommodations to participate in services or the legal system.

Just Ask: A Toolkit to Help Advocates, Attorneys, and Law Enforcement Meet the Needs of Crime Victims with Disabilities was created in response to conversations with professionals working with survivors, many of whom are open to asking about accommodations, but don’t know how and are worried about saying the wrong thing. The toolkit lays out four simple steps for providing accommodations to survivors with disabilities, and includes sample language you can use when talking to survivors. It also outlines what your agency needs to have in place for staff to be able to provide accommodations as soon as survivors request them.

What’s Available

Just Ask is comprised of three audience-specific toolkits:

Advocate Toolkit

Attorney and Prosecutor Toolkit

Law Enforcement Toolkit

Asking about Accommodations: An Introduction

Acknowledgements

This toolkit was shaped by people with disabilities and disability advocates. Vera would like to thank Max Barrows, Leigh Ann Davis, Jasmine D’Addario-Fobian, Roberta Eaton, Suzanne Hopkins, Jo Johnson, Keith Jones, Shell Schwartz, and Olga Trujillo for their insights and contributions as Expert Workgroup Members for the National Resource Center on Reaching Victims. Nancy Smith and Katie Allen with the Vera Institute of Justice were also instrumental in developing this toolkit.

A Note About Language

The terms victim and survivor are used interchangeably throughout this toolkit, based on the different ways in which people who have experienced crime identify. When working with people whose lives have been touched by crime, best practice is to reflect the language they use to identify themselves.

Vera Institute of Justice