Teaching Tools

Katherine McLaughlin here … I spent many years as a non-disabled person, and people interacted with me as such. They saw me as an independent, regular person and interacted with me as a peer, with respect, and as a very capable person.

Then, at age 26, I acquired a disability, and everything changed. I was the exact same person, but all of a sudden, my interactions with others were different; people had new beliefs about me based only on the disability they saw. These beliefs came from stereotypes we have about people with disabilities. Now, people run to help me and tell me I am so inspiring, which is kind and positive, but there’s also an often-realized, not-so-positive impact of this. Continue Reading Disability Awareness

In January 2020, an open letter with signatures from 72 actors and directors was released discussing the importance of representation of disabilities in TV and film that features actors with disabilities in those roles. Statistics show that 95% of television shows that feature a person with a disability are played by actors who do not have any type of disability. Of the 61 Oscar nominations and 27 Oscar wins for roles that showcase characters with disabilities, only two of those roles were played by actors with disabilities themselves. Continue Reading Finally, Disability Representation in Television and Film

Your body is your own, and you get to decide what is okay and what is not okay. These personal rules are called personal boundaries. Each person has different personal boundaries. For example, some people don’t like to hug, and others want to hug everyone. Neither way is wrong; these boundaries are just different. Since people have different boundaries, it is important for you to know what yours are to tell others if they have crossed them. Continue Reading Healthy Boundaries Lesson

Download this free resource. Continue Reading Healthy Relationship Teaching Tool

Individuals with developmental disabilities are sexually assaulted at seven times the rate of people without disabilities. As always, our team at Elevatus Training believes that education is the first line of defense in preventing sexual abuse. With this in mind, we aim to support all your training needs, and that’s why we have created a toolkit filled with educational articles and resources to support you. Together, let’s raise awareness and educate people about this issue! Continue Reading Toolkit : Sexual Assault Awareness for People with Developmental Disabilities