- Instructor: TNSTEP
Sexual health is an important part of growing up. However, it can be a very overwhelming and confusing time. This webinar will give you a synopsis of the SPAN Parent Advocacy Network’s four-part series on Sexuality and Disability.
Part 1 – Building Healthy Relationships Objective: 1) Healthy relationships lie in having strong self-awareness and self-respect. 2) Identify the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy relationships. 3) Understanding the importance of continually developing self-confidence and resilience.
Part 2 – Navigating Sexuality Objective: 1) Find useful ways to teach about sexuality, rather than ignore or dismiss sexual feelings. 2) Learn how to teach fundamental skills to aid in managing sexual feelings and support relationship development.
Part 3 – Abuse Prevention & Empowerment Objective: 1) Understand risk factors that contribute to the prevalence of sexual abuse. 2) Explain two ways that people with I/DD are impacted by a history of sexual trauma and other forms of abuse. 3) Define Trauma-Focused Care. 4) Identify 3 benefits of taking an interdisciplinary approach and supporting people with I/DD.
Part 4 – Understanding Gender, Sexuality, and Disability Objective 1) What does gender mean? 2) What does sexuality mean? 3) People with disabilities are sexual beings. 4) Fostering a welcoming and affirming environment.
Presenter:
Dawn Monaco has been working with families, in the area of special education advocacy, for over 13 years. Dawn is currently Co-Director/Project Coordinator for the REACH for Transition project, a senior Parent/Professional Staff Trainer as well as a Family Resource Specialist with the SPAN Parent Advocacy Network. SPAN is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to educate and empower families as well as to inform and involve professionals and other individuals interested in the healthy development and educational rights of children. Dawn has conducted training educating parents and professionals on topics related to special education, the transition to adult life, and health advocacy. She also worked for three years At Hackensack University Medical Center’s Institute for Child Development as a SPAN Resource Specialist for families with children with developmental disabilities. During this time, she worked closely with the developmental pediatricians to ensure that these families had the resources necessary to work collaboratively with the school districts in meeting their children’s needs.
In a previous position, Dawn had spent five years as a Peer Support Partner with the Family Support Organization of Bergen County. In this role, she worked to support and educate many families with children receiving services within the New Jersey Children’s System of Care.
Dawn is a board member for the ARC of Bergen and Passaic counties and a member of the Bergen County Workforce Development Board’s Disability Committee. She has also been involved locally as a Board of Education trustee for 12 years.
Dawn and her husband, Tom are longtime residents of New Jersey and are the proud parents of two young men.
Access the archived webinar: Lunchtime Leaders: Sexuality and Disability
Download the presentation: Final Sexuality Series Presentation
- Click here to view the 4-part Disability & Sexuality Series
- Click here to view the REACH for Transition Website
Suggested Books:
- Taking Care of Myself: A Hygiene, Puberty and Personal Curriculum for Young People with Autism by Mary Wrobel
- Sexuality and Relationship Education for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders by Davida Hartman
- Teaching Children with Down Syndrome about Their Bodies, Boundaries, and Sexuality by Terri Couwenhoven
TNSTEP Lunchtime Leaders Webinar Recorded: 05/21/2019
