Conversation Guides for Individuals with Disabilities and Caregivers

We have created conversation guides for people with disabilities and their family members or caregivers. These are meant to help guide discussions about topics that can be challenging to understand or talk about.


What is Consent?

Communicating Consent for People with Disabilities

Bodily Autonomy

Relationship Safety

Conversation Guides for Service Providers & Professionals

These conversation guides are made for service providers or professionals who work closely with people with disabilities.


Mandatory Reporting

Responding to a Disclosure

Teaching & Helping Individuals with Disabilities

IDD Quick Guides
WRI Solutions provides quick guides focusing on relationships, covering topics like self-awareness, safety, and finding and maintaining friendships for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Healthy Relationships Workbook
Designed for individuals with learning difficulties, this workbook addresses topics such as personal rules, different types of relationships, healthy friendships, dating, consent, and relationship safety. It also covers phone and social media safety, recognizing unhealthy relationships, and steps to take if experiencing abuse.

Sample Intake Accommodations Form for Survivors & Survivors with I/DD
This resource from VALOR provides a customizable intake accommodations form designed to assist rape crisis centers in effectively serving survivors with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). The form facilitates the identification of necessary accommodations, ensuring that services are accessible and tailored to each survivor's unique needs. By utilizing this tool, professionals can enhance their support for survivors with I/DD, promoting equitable access to essential services.

Sexuality for Individuals with Disabilities

Teaching Privacy
The Watson Institute provides guidance on teaching privacy and sexual education to children with disabilities, emphasizing the importance of modeling private activities and demonstrating consent in interactions.

Sexual Education for Children with Disabilities
This resource from The Watson Institute provides guidance on teaching privacy and sexual education to children with disabilities. It emphasizes modeling private activities, demonstrating consent in interactions, and helping children understand personal boundaries in a developmentally appropriate way.

Teaching people with intellectual disabilities about sexual consent
This guide explains how to teach sexual consent to clients with intellectual disabilities, covering the basics of consent education and strategies for trauma-informed approaches.

Sexuality Education for Students with Disabilities
Hosted by the Center for Parent Information and Resources, this compilation includes various resources tailored for children, teens, and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. It emphasizes the importance of sex education in preventing abuse and promoting healthy relationships.

Healthy Relationships, Sexuality and Disability Resource Guide
Created to benefit people with disabilities, this resource guide promotes health access and abuse prevention. It offers resources helpful in facilitating access to healthy, respectful, and equitable relationships, addressing the unique needs of youth with disabilities.

Handling Abuse & Reporting

Sexual Assault Response Toolkit: Tailored Strategies for Supporting Survivors with Disabilities
This toolkit from the NSVRC offers strategies for responding to sexual assault disclosures from individuals with disabilities. It includes guidance on addressing the unique needs of survivors, ensuring accessibility, and providing trauma-informed care for diverse communities affected by relationship violence.

Best Practices for Including Survivors with I/DD During Mandated Reporting
This guide from VALOR offers best practices for involving individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in the mandatory reporting process. It emphasizes a trauma-informed approach, focusing on clear communication, consent, and empowering survivors while ensuring they are treated with dignity and respect.

Reporting Abuse: Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How
This guide from VALOR, while specifically tailored to California policy, provides valuable insights for professionals in Utah working with survivors of abuse, including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). It outlines the key aspects of abuse reporting, emphasizing the importance of involving survivors in the process. The guide covers the responsibilities of mandated reporters, the types of abuse that should be reported, and the steps for reporting, all while ensuring the rights and dignity of survivors are respected.

Centering Survivors with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: A Guide for Navigating Confidentiality and Mandated Reporting for Rape Crisis Centers
This guide from VALOR focuses on California's legal requirements for rape crisis centers serving survivors with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). It provides practical recommendations for balancing legal obligations with a survivor-centered approach, ensuring compliance while respecting the autonomy of individuals with I/DD.

Model Accommodations Policy for Survivors & Survivors with Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities
Developed by C.A. LEADDS in collaboration with The Arc of California, this model policy provides rape crisis centers with guidelines to ensure equitable access for survivors with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). It emphasizes a survivor-centered approach, outlining best practices for accommodations, aligning with California's legal requirements to uphold the rights and dignity of these survivors.

After Disclosure: A Research Protocol to Respond to Disclosures of Abuse and Sexual Violence in Research With Adults With Intellectual Disabilities
This article presents a protocol for researchers to respond effectively to disclosures of abuse or sexual violence by adults with intellectual disabilities (ID). It outlines ethical and legal steps for researchers, emphasizing informed consent and mandated reporting, to ensure proper support while maintaining research integrity.

Adult Protective Services (APS) Fact Sheet
This fact sheet from Utah's Division of Aging & Adult Services (DAAS) provides key information on APS, including its role in investigating abuse, neglect, or exploitation of vulnerable adults. It covers eligibility, reporting requirements, and protections for those who report concerns.

Adult Protective Services Fact Sheet: What You Must Know
This fact sheet from USC provides an overview of Adult Protective Services (APS), covering its role in protecting vulnerable adults from abuse, neglect, and exploitation. It outlines APS responsibilities, client protections, and answers frequently asked questions about reporting and legal procedures.