Sexual Assault and People with I/DD: Potentially Harmful Coping

Like all trauma survivors, people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) who have experienced sexual assault are more likely to experience suicidal thoughts and behaviors, engage in non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and to develop addictions than the general population. When they engage in these potentially harmful coping strategies people with I/DD are often responded to with coercive and controlling attempts to stop the behaviors, which often make them feel more shame and may be retraumatizing. This training will provide general information about suicide, NSSI, and Substance Use Disorder and other addictions among people with I/DD and use a trauma lens to help clinicians consider how to respond to these issues in a trauma-informed way. Special attention will be paid to differential risk and protective factors for people on the Autism Spectrum.