Healthy Relationships

Students with disabilities need explicit instruction and support to navigate relationships, communication, boundaries, personal safety, consent, social expectations, and increasingly complex social situations.

Yet these topics can be difficult for educators to address.

Questions about friendships, dating, personal space, appropriate behavior, online communication, sexuality, consent, and relationships often arise naturally in schools—but educators may be unsure what to say, how much to say, or how to respond in ways that are developmentally appropriate, respectful, and supportive.

ARIN IU 28 provides training, consultation, and coaching to help educators confidently navigate these conversations and teach the skills students need to build healthy, safe, and meaningful relationships.

For many students with disabilities, social understanding does not develop simply through observation or experience. Skills that may be learned incidentally by peers often need to be taught directly, practiced repeatedly, and applied across real-life situations.

Students may need explicit instruction in areas such as:

• Friendship and relationship skills
• Social boundaries and personal space
• Reading social cues
• Communication and self-advocacy
• Consent and respecting another person's boundaries
• Recognizing healthy and unhealthy relationships
• Understanding public versus private behavior
• Personal safety
• Online communication and digital relationships
• Handling rejection, conflict, and changing relationships
• Identifying trusted adults and asking for help
• Understanding increasingly complex social and sexual situations as they grow older

Without intentional instruction, students may be more vulnerable to misunderstanding, exploitation, unsafe relationships, disciplinary consequences, or social isolation.

Avoiding difficult topics does not protect students. Providing clear, developmentally appropriate information and opportunities to practice these skills does.

Educators do not need to have every answer—but they do need tools for responding when these situations arise.

Anywhere from 40% to 70% of girls with disabilities will experience sexual abuse before they turn 18, while up to 30% of boys with disabilities are at risk of sexual abuse during the same period. Girls with disabilities experience a higher risk of human trafficking than their peers, as they are more vulnerable overall to sexual exploitation and manipulation. (Sexual Violence Against Persons with Disabilities: A Meta-Analysis)

Compared to youth with no disability, youth with disabilities were more likely to report coercive sex (18.6% vs. 12.1%), forced sex (13.2% vs. 7.9%), and sexual abuse (8.4% vs. 4.8%). (Teenagers & Sexual Violence)

In a national study of youth Internet behavior, youth with disabilities reported more sexualized behaviors online than youth with no disability (20% vs. 13%) and more sexual solicitations from others (14%), including distressing solicitations (7%). (Preventing Sexual Abuse in Arizona Schools)

46% of people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) with low support needs (those who require a low level of support) and 84% of those with high support needs don’t receive any sex education. (Recognizing the Sexual Rights of People with I/DD)

60% of people with I/DD who are in romantic relationships have experienced interpersonal violence or abuse, and 40% of them did not seek assistance. Also, individuals with I/DD may be accused of a sex offense such as viewing child pornography due to lack of education on what is legal and illegal sexual acts. (Preventing Online Sexual Victimization of People with Developmental Disabilities)

Sexually active middle and high school youth with cognitive disabilities are at greater risk of contracting an STI. For example, 26% of females with a cognitive disability reported an STI vs. 10% without a disability. (Sexually Transmitted Infection Among Adolescents Receiving Special Education Services)

40% of girls with developmental disabilities reported becoming pregnant versus 18% of girls without I/DD. (How Developmental Disabilities Impact the Sexual Health of Young Adults)

In a nationally representative sample of middle and high school age youth (7th to 12th graders), the

association of low cognitive ability with increased risks of STI among adolescent boys and girls were found to be substantial. These findings indicated that 8% of adolescent male participants with low cognitive ability had been exposed to an STI, as compared to only 3% of males with average intelligence; for adolescent females who were sexually active, 26% of the cognitively impaired reported having an STI, a sharp contrast to 10% of adolescent females with average cognitive ability. The same study found that nearly 40% of cognitively impaired teenage girls had become pregnant—more than double the 18% rate of teenage girls without a mental disability.

Mandi Anderson, Educational Consultant (TaC) and trained Sexuality Educator, is available to support schools, educators, and families in navigating social skills, relationships, boundaries, sexuality, and other topics that can feel difficult or uncomfortable to address.

Professional learning opportunities can be customized to meet the needs of a district, building, classroom, or student population.

Staff Training

Training can help educators feel more confident addressing the real-life social and relationship situations students encounter every day.

Topics may include:

• Teaching social skills beyond scripted social rules
• Healthy versus unhealthy relationships
• Friendship, dating, and changing relationships
• Personal boundaries and consent
• Public and private behaviors
• Communication and self-advocacy
• Supporting students who misread social cues
• Responding to inappropriate social or sexual behavior
• Online relationships, social media, and digital safety
• Helping students understand unwritten social expectations
• Determining what should be explicitly taught—and when
• Responding to difficult or unexpected student questions
• Supporting students with intellectual disabilities, autism, and complex support needs
• Collaborating with families around sensitive topics

Training emphasizes practical strategies educators can use immediately while maintaining student dignity, safety, and access to accurate information.

Parent & Caregiver Workshops

Families often have the same questions educators do:

What should I teach? When should I teach it? How much information is appropriate? What do I say when my child asks something I wasn't expecting?

Parent and caregiver workshops provide a supportive space to explore topics such as relationships, boundaries, communication, consent, personal safety, social expectations, and sexuality.

The goal is not to give families a script for every possible conversation. Instead, workshops help caregivers develop the confidence and tools to have ongoing, age- and developmentally appropriate conversations as their children grow.

Please contact Mandi Anderson for additional information. Click the button below to schedule a workshop or consultation.

Consultation & Coaching

Some situations require more individualized problem-solving.

ARIN IU 28 can provide consultation and coaching for educators and teams supporting students who need additional instruction in social understanding, relationships, boundaries, personal safety, or sexuality.

Support may include:

• Identifying the underlying skill a student needs
• Developing explicit instructional strategies
• Adapting instruction for students with intellectual disabilities, autism, or complex communication needs
• Selecting appropriate instructional resources
• Supporting generalization across settings
• Developing consistent language among staff and families
• Problem-solving challenging or sensitive situations
• Supporting implementation of sexuality and healthy relationship curricula, including Elevatus resources when appropriate

The goal is to move beyond simply responding to behavior and instead ask:

What does this student need to understand or learn in order to navigate this situation more successfully?

Professional development, parent workshops, consultation, and individualized coaching can be designed around the needs of your school or district.

For additional information or to schedule a training or consultation, contact:

Mandi Anderson

Educational Consultant (TaC) & Sexuality Educator

ARIN IU 28

aanderson@iu28.org

Mandi Anderson, Educational Consultant (TaC) & Sexuality Educator

ARIN IU 28

aanderson@iu28.org

724 762 0213

@MathNerdMandi