Lunch and Learn:

Supporting Children with Intellectual and Developmental
Disabilities Who Have Experienced Trauma

Presenter: Shuniqua Ortiz, BHPP Liaison Region 10 ESC Clinician

Students with intellectual and developmental disabilities are more at-risk of experiencing adverse childhood experiences vs. their counterparts. Often, these traumas are never addressed and healing never comes. These experiences can cause students to act out in ways that can be misinterpreted due to lower cognitive functioning and communication skills, reliance upon others for support, caregiver expectations to be compliant, and so on.

During this session, participants will learn how to recognize signs of trauma in IDD students, understand that recovery from traumatic experiences is possible, and review ways in which school personnel and/or parents can assist in a student’s recovery process.