Intellectual Disabilities

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    I’m new here!

    Hi, my name is msathish. I'm looking for help regarding how to get into the workplace and find the correct type of roles where the provide support/ accommodations as I have been discriminated against twice .

    #MightyTogether #LearningDisabilities #IntellectualDisabilities

    3 reactions 2 comments
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    I'm new here!

    Hello, Im Henrik_the_Dane
    Im here to meet others at the distance and be inspired to live with higher quality of life and thrive better even Im unstable as a person.
    Im intellectual high function, but cant make my day work because of cPTSD, dissociation, burnout, depression, bodily distress syndrome... That kind of things. And lots of loneliness of course.
    Ima father to grown up boys and its difficult to be a parent and being unstable, not happy, not proud...
    Even I have showed them Im a Father with a big heart and I love them very much...

    #MightyTogether #Anxiety #Depression
    #MentalIllness #IntellectualDisabilities #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder

    12 reactions 5 comments
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    Today's Multi-Step Security Requirements are a Barrier for Some People with Learning Impairments

    I’m a very smart person. I have a nice job teaching at a college program for people with intellectual disabilities. However, I have problems processing sudden multi step directions and tasks, and I always have. Because of a mild brain injury I acquired at birth, I have slow processing speed. So, I’ve always needed to establish a fewer set of steps for important tasks, since I was little.

    Hence, the decision by the powers that be to require everyone to go through multiple steps to access a website, email account or bank account is a real issue for me. Although I do not wish to have my identity stolen, I think a simple password of my choosing should be sufficient. One of the techniques that I try to use to cope with my learning impairment is to use the same password for everything. Requiring me to add a number, a character, or whatever else a particular program has decided to require, and then demanding that I check my phone for an additional security prompt, and then making me identify all the pictures with cars, etc, means that I struggle to access information that I need to do my job and connect with other people.

    Therefore, I should be able to choose my own level of account security. If I don’t want to add a bunch of extra characters to my password to make a particular account more secure, the powers that be should allow me to make that choice.

    The technocrats with increasing power in our society need to give consumers the autonomy to decide our own risk level. They need to recognize and consider the needs of people with different learning styles, intellectual disabilities and emotional disorders when they design their software. For some people, a simple password that we create ourselves is a critical accommodation for an impairment.

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    Facts About Autism in Adults

    Autism manifests before age 3, so most new diagnoses of autism are in children.

    Most people who actively read about autism are worried-but-hopeful parents or guardians of children who are or may be autistic.

    By the time autistic children are adults, many parents or guardians feel they're as expert as anyone who might be writing about it.

    Because of the changes in how autism is defined, many adults now considered autistic never received an autism diagnosis.

    High-functioning adults with autism are often uninterested in reading about non-autistic perspectives on autism.

    Some adults with autism have intellectual disabilities that make it extremely difficult to read about autism. #ASD #Autism

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    Protecting Kids With Disabilities From Sexual Abuse

    Part 1 of 2 >Though there is no specific discussion, please consider this a blanket trigger warning for sexual abuse of children for this entire article. It’s not a fun topic, but I hope you will read and utilize the suggested resources to help protect your child.<

    The rates of abuse for disabled children and adults are staggering. The nature of crimes against child and adults with various disabilities and differences make it difficult to tell exactly how much sexual abuse is happening, but the data shows that children with developmental disabilities like Autism or intellectual disabilities are somewhere between four and ten times more likely to be victims of sexual abuse than non-disabled or typical children. It doesn’t improve in adulthood either. Some studies have shown that the rates are as high as 90% for adult disabled women.

    If this is new information for you, I’m very sorry that I had to be the one to tell you, but I am glad you know because now you can do something to help protect your child and other children as well.

    Be suspicious: There are many things you can do. The first is to be aware that sexual abuse of Autistic children and adults and children and adults with other disabilities happen in all settings by people trusted to care for them (and sometimes other youth and adults sharing the same settings). It’s my personal conspiracy theory belief that pedophiles choose jobs to give them the greatest access to vulnerable children. Making schools, churches, sports, and after-school recreational programs places I am squinting eyes and watching closely. The majority of people arrested for child sex crimes have no previous record.

    Communication: If your child doesn’t have a communication method, keep working on finding one. Whether they communicate easily or not, let them know that they are valued and believed to be competent. When they do communicate, trust them and let them know they will always be taken seriously.

    Teach your child about their bodies and about boundaries that others need to adhere to. If the child needs assistance with toileting or dressing, this will mean you need to get very specific about what they should expect. Ask your school about bathroom policies. Encourage no one-on-one or open bathroom policies for students that need assistance. Advocate for cameras in SPED classrooms.

    Teach them the correct names for body parts from the beginning. Explain parts for both sexes not just their own. Teach them that even you respect their bodies and their autonomy over them.

    Talk to other adults about boundaries. Tell them your child knows about their bodies, and that they aren’t to be touched. It’s ok to make it weird. We are putting out the word that our kids are not the ones.

    Reduce access: Eliminate one-on-one access to your child, if possible. Otherwise, make any time they have with other adults observable and interruptible.

    Be aware of grooming: Often when grooming is discussed, it’s considered to be the actions a molester takes to get a child to trust them. It’s also the work they put in to get other adults to trust them enough to relinquish control of their children. Use that suspicion for anyone who wants alone access to your child.

    Gut check?: Often, parents have no idea when a person has been found to have molested their child. It was someone they knew, trusted, and liked. Grooming has worked so well, the gut didn’t alert the parents to the danger. IF you get The Bad Vibe from someone, listen, but DO NOT rely on your gut to tell you that someone is safe.

    Listen to your child: Believe what they tell you about people. Observe if they are uncomfortable around certain other people or if they don’t want to go to certain locations. Investigate the reasons for these. Look for behavior changes and nightmares. If your child discloses abuse to you, your first response should be, “I believe you, it’s not your fault.” The second should be, “let’s get help.”

    Model consent and honor choices: never force. I mean almost anything. Resistance is a method of self-protection. Allow your child to learn that their boundaries are to be respected. Only force things that are life or limb.

    Ask permission to come into their rooms–even if they aren’t speaking. My child is a non-speaker. I always knock. Ask permission to hug or kiss them. Never force affection such as making them hug or kiss relatives or even you. This teaches them not to tolerate invasions of their bodies.

    Get trained: For a simple and straightforward 2-hour course on how to prevent abuse and support child victims, I highly recommend taking the $10 online course through Darkness to Light. It covers what I’ve discussed here and more with greater detail and personal stories from adul

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    I'm new here!

    Hi, my name is NahalAlsina. I'm here because I wanted to talk about my struggles with being neurodivergent.

    #MightyTogether #BorderlinePersonalityDisorder #IntellectualDisabilities

    6 reactions 5 comments
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    I’m new here!

    Hi, my name is skysdyney. I'm here because I needing help as I have a 14 yr old daughter .. who's been diagnosed with intellectual disability. but I want to know what did u guys do when all they want is a friend but doesn't like doing sport or going to school as bullying is so real just need some ideas .. 🙏

    #MightyTogether #IntellectualDisabilities

    3 comments
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    Taking a Disabled Culture approach to Disabled Stories

    Part 1 of 2 We are living at a time in which the media, our governments, our storytellers, medical systems, and even so called Social justice organizations forget Disabled folks in the media.

    There is also a stereotype about us as Actors and in film that we are liabilities this is beyond outdated. It’s exhausting especially at a time where our lives are the price for the ignorance you choose. Eugenics is real in America nobody talks about it, it’s not taught in schools ,but it’s real.

    There are many parts of this issue that are not being addressed in multiple fields.

    Asylums shut down for many of us in our lifetimes. For people like me born just after we are the first generation not to be haunted with the fear of being stolen from our families and tortured. The fact that so many alive both have Either Experienced Asylums and survived them or we know people who have either way we have all seen first hand the cost of disrespecting the Disabled Community and invisible disabilities.

    As a result Disabled Individuals have worked their entire lives trying to break stereotypes and unhealthy portrayals of us in the media as well as in our systems. For context I was diagnosed with Autism at 4. By the time I was 8 it was my job to educate you on how to treat me. I don’t mind it I like educating and building bridges between our communities. I just want to demonstrate we started children with educating on Disability and our Disabled culture.

    What is Society and Media regarding how our society discusses Disability:

    First: Only Discussing Disability in Medical terms.I am proud to be Disabled and Autistic but more than anything I am proud of Disabled culture and l the sub cultures within it.
    Growing up in Disabled spaces needs to be discussed culturally. why? Some Disabilities are Genetic When my friends and I go out we still sometimes asked to leave places for “Making people uncomfortable.” Either because our invisible disabilities give us a hard time navigating social norms for that space  or people are simply uncomfortable with any sort of body difference.

    Media,Film,Theater,Stories; over the last few years has been exhausting for Disabled people. I originally wanted to be an Actress but as I read more and more scripts I noticed in many roles I would be asked to betray my community to play these roles. To promote outdated ideas ,stereotypes, pretend I’m cool with my Autism being used as a literal insult/joke in the scripts. Worst of all is that in these rooms I’d be the only one to see it.

    I’ve been asked to educate your society since I was a child on My Autistic and  Disabled Culture. Able bodied and Nuerotypical folks are rarely asked to put in the same effort we are.

    We have to learn social skills We have to ask for access to your spacesWe have to carry cards saying we are Autistic so Police don’t shoot Something especially being a problem for B.I.P.O.C members of our Community who are given the least respect out of all of us. We have to advocate against Abelism, Eugenics,Inspiration porn,all while also balancing how to discuss and support our own in unlearning Abelism against themselves or a so called “High functioning supremacy.” When Functioning isn’t our word it’s yours.

    Our word is accessibility.Why is this person having trouble accessing the space, the education material, the social circle ,and how can we provide tools to make it easier for that person to access and engage.

    Our Disability isn’t Your Contest

    It’s weird that we have a culture around “Proving.” #Disability. The idea Invisible Disabilities need to be visible or fit your stereotypes of “Disabled.” Some people have ambulatory disabilities meaning may need to use a wheelchair or cane one day but be ok to walk in certain situations if the person themselves seems safe or comfortable.

    Stop pitting Disabled people against each other

    Physical Vs Invisible Perceived High or Low functioning.Fetishizing certain Disabilities while continuing to ignore the contributions of folks With #IntellectualDisabilities in our communities.

    Ignoring the MAJOR privileges you have in regards to both civil rights and medical care:

    6 out of 10 people who have died from #COVID19 have been disabl

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    Don't Feel Intimidated to Counsel a Student with Autism and/or Intellectual Disabilities

    Lately, I’ve encountered a lot of professionals that look to me as an expert with counseling students with developmental disabilities. Yes, I feel confident with my expertise in working with these students, but honestly, I feel that my trauma training has had a bigger impact on my practice than my training in modalities with autism and life skill classrooms.  Yes, it is helpful to be well versed with utilizing common tools in this world, such as the zones of regulation, sorting thumbs up and thumbs down behaviors, and following a predictable routine.  That is the easy part of working with these students.  Anyone can do that.

    What many therapists do not understand is what these students truly value just like any other student.  They want to connect with you.  This may look different from a typical student, but it is still true.  If you do not establish a positive connection with these students, you will see behaviors that are unwanted, to say the least.  These students are not just vessels that need curriculum poured into their eyes and ears.  They are not going to always be motivated by a reinforcer or praise.  The most reinforcing activity is going to be interacting with someone that respects their wants and needs. They can be reinforced by someone who accepts them for the unique individual they have become. These students need to know that their opinions about their own lives are not only important, but should be the driving force behind their goals in their individual education plan.

    As parents of kids with special needs, we develop into mama bear activists, empowered by our love of our children.  We only want the best for our kids, but around adolescence, we get knocked onto our behinds by the onset of puberty.  Our goals all of these years were to help our children make progress, but when they get close to that 18 to 21 mark, we tend to not want to hand the baton over to our grown children.  I understand that our kids are all at different levels of abilities, but I truly believe that all kids need to have a say in their future.  If they are 18, at a second grade level in math, and would really like to stop working on math, maybe it’s time to let go.  Therapists need to understand and respect these students’ wants and needs, but so do parents.  At some point, if the student wants to let go of the academics, and they plan on working at Starbucks, this is definitely something to consider.

    So when it comes to doing therapy with these students, I take the same approach as I would a typical student, but I adapt to make sure they have a means of communication.  These students, along with typical students, need to practice identifying their feelings, choosing tools to help them process their feelings, and to respect other people’s feelings.  That could be through verbal communication, or through visuals, but either way, all people share this same need, and all people are capable of learning this skill.

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    I’m new here!

    Hi, my name is aahofer. I want to be a zookeeper and live by myself or with a group after I graduate high school.

    #MightyTogether #IntellectualDisabilities

    3 comments