Curriculum: Building Healthy Relationships at Work

Help People with Developmental Disabilities Become Great Employees and Keep Their Jobs!

Evidence-Informed and Trauma-Informed Curriculum
That Supports Competitive, Integrated Employment
For All People With Developmental Disabilities

Have you witnessed employees losing their jobs not because they couldn’t do the work but because of how they interacted with their co-workers and customers?

This curriculum, Building Healthy Relationships at Work, will help you teach people with Developmental Disabilities how to navigate all types of relationships, including co-worker relationships, and also how to become great employees.

This curriculum is a collaboration between Elevatus Training and Project SEARCH with input from experts in the fields of relationship and sexuality and competitive, integrated employment programs.

  • Cognitively accessible and interactive lesson plans to engage students. Uses role plays, sorting, and other activities to engage the learners.
  • The lessons were reviewed and field tested through Project SEARCH with positive results.
  • Uses real-life situations to teach healthy boundaries in the workplace.
  • Teaches clear boundaries and rules for interacting with people in the workplace, how to avoid harassing others, and what to do if you are being harassed.
  • Each lesson comes with handouts and an optional slide deck (purchase separately) for either in-person or online teaching.
  • Can be used by an instructor or co-facilitated by an instructor and a person with a disability.
  • Designed to teach groups of people or can be easily adapted to use one on one.
Free Content Samples

1. Sample Lesson (PDF)
2. Sample Handout (PDF)
3. Side-by-Side Comparison of Our Two Curriculum (PDF)

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Photo collage of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities at work.

Curriculum Table of Contents
  1. Getting Started
  2. Gender Identity & Expression
  3. Types of Relationships
  4. Public and Private
  5. Communication
  6. Decision Making
  7. Positive Relationships at Work
  8. Friendships
  9. Moving From Friend to Partner/Sweetheart
  10. Healthy/Unhealthy Relationships
  11. Healthy Boundaries at Work
  12. Pulling It All Together
Instructor Manual Table of Contents
  1. Introduction
  2. Working with Families
  3. Working with Worksites
  4. The Role of the Instructor
  5. Challenges and How to Overcome Them
  6. What to Do if a Person Discloses Abuse
  7. Tips for People with Disabilities as Co-Facilitators
  8. Words of Wisdom
  9. Pre/Post Test Instructions and Test

I find the curriculum to be well-written and geared for the population we serve. Many individuals struggle with finding the balance for creating and maintaining healthy, positive relationships. The curriculum addresses the issues our young adults may encounter in a straightforward, easy-to-share manner. The manual prepares one to take on tough topics in an open, non-judgmental manner.

Margo Greene – Project SEARCH Instructor

Benefits of this Curriculum

Includes Everything You Need to Get Started

Every lesson includes a script, interactive activities, handouts, and a summary of the main points in each lesson – everything you need to present classes in your setting.

Inclusive of all Sexual Orientations and Gender Identities.

Includes a Gender Identity and Expression lesson with current terminology and ways to support LGBTQIA+ participants or students.

Promotes Self-advocacy for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities.

It teaches participants about speaking up regarding relationships and also within relationships.

You Can Start Slow and Add Other Lessons

There are 12 lessons, but you can pick and choose what topics will work in your setting. Once you see how well the curriculum is received, you can add more topics to your class.

Involvement of People with Disabilities and Professionals

Was reviewed and field tested with people with developmental disabilities and competitive, integrated employment professionals to produce this cognitively accessible resource.

Focus on Abuse Prevention

Teaches healthy boundaries and sexual harassment prevention.

Interactive Opportunities to Practice Skills

Throughout the curriculum there are many opportunities for participants to practice skills such as distinguishing public from private, how to meet new people, and communication. These are done through skits, roleplays, and other techniques.

People With Disabilities as Teachers

This curriculum is designed to be team-taught with people with disabilities and staff, but can also be used just by staff.

Curriculum Includes

12 Well-Scripted Lesson Plans

High-quality, well-paced lesson plans designed by an expert in sexuality education. The scripts help you guide your class through the learning objectives and give you the words to say, including the modeling of inclusive language.

Teaching Tools

These accompany the lessons, make the learning more effective, and make your life easier.

Handouts

Visually pleasing with graphic representations for learning. Digital handouts are available upon request.

Instructor Manual

This manual helps you learn how to be a good instructor, how to work with parents and worksites, and many more practical skills for teaching this topic.

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I think this is great, and I especially like the ease of having hard conversations with this age group. The language level was very much on point for the bulk of students that we teach in Project SEARCH. I like that it has tangible picture-based activities that we can produce and laminate for continued use.

Cathe Hoskins, MS – Project SEARCH Coordinator/Instructor

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Curriculum Only

$195

  • Curriculum Includes
  • 12 Lesson Plans
  • Handouts
  • Teaching Tools
  • Instructor Manual
  • Curriculum Slide Deck

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Pay via check or PO (offline) or credit card (online).
Contact us about quantity discounts.

Curriculum + Slide Deck

$290

Buy Now

Pay via check or PO (offline) or credit card (online).
Contact us about quantity discounts.

Here’s what self-advocate participants said about the classes:
“It gave me information to build my social abilities.”
“It taught me what to do and not to do in a job.”
“Everything was good, now I can take what I learned and share it with others.”

Frequently Asked Questions

Learn more about the curriculum and what to expect after your purchase

Who is the curriculum designed for?

This curriculum is designed to teach people with developmental disabilities how to build healthy relationships in the workplace.

Who teaches the course?

It is designed for instructors, job coaches, employment first staff, or anyone who is part of a competitive, integrated employment program. It can also be team-taught, with an instructor and a person with a developmental disability as the instructors.

What topics are covered in the lessons?

Topics include public and private, different types of relationships, decision-making and communication skills, healthy boundaries at work, and many more.

What do you mean by well-scripted?

Since many people don’t feel like experts in teaching relationship education, this curriculum tells you exactly what to say to get you started. It also helps if you include people with disabilities as one of the teachers. But really, everyone needs a little help when teaching this topic.

Tell me more about the teaching tools.

One of the hardest parts of teaching any topic is finding good tools to make your teaching more effective. All the tools needed for the activities are included, so you do not have to look any further. Many of the tools are photos to aid you in teaching as well as handouts to share the content. There is also an optional slide deck (purchase separately) for in-person or online teaching.

How is this curriculum different from your other curriculum?

Please see this side-by-side comparison (PDF) showing the difference between this curriculum and our curriculum, Sexuality Education for People with Developmental Disabilities.

There’s a manual that goes with the curriculum; what does that include?

The manual topics are the role of a relationship instructor, working with worksites, working with parents, challenges in teaching, and how to overcome these challenges.

Is there a shipping charge?

We ship the curriculum via ground service for a charge of $16 per curriculum if shipped within the US and $25 per curriculum if shipped outside the US.

What happens after I order? How does the curriculum arrive?

The curriculum is a physical spiral-bound book that will be shipped to you after payment or a purchase order is received. It typically takes 5-10 days to arrive.

Can I buy with a purchase order and check rather than on line?

Yes, if your organization requires this type of purchase, it is a payment option.

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Here’s what self-advocate participants said about the classes:
“It opened me up to different ways to handle problems, speak around co-workers and acquaintances to be mature.”
“We learned a lot for my future, to get a job and be safe.”
“When we need help, we need to speak up.”

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