A collection of over 50 stories about facing abuse and violence written by a diverse group of people with disabilities, family members, service providers, and other allies covering a wide range of mistreatment and recovery experiences. By sharing their stories, the writers hope to empower similar survivors to recognize, resist, and disclose abusive situations; to recover if abuse occurs; and to move ahead to live strong, fulfilling lives. The companion teaching guide will help educators and trainers build creative and meaningful activities around the stories.

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Safe Beginnings, a healthy, affirming, how-to book, can reduce the risk of sexual abuse of children with and without disabilities. Practical and powerful, this book includes:
• Strategies for teaching preschool children self-respect, self-esteem, sexuality, and safety
• Skills for empowering children to resist and report sexual abuse
• How to create safe environments in nurseries, preschools, day care centers, and schools
• Tips for raising boys and girls
• What to do if abuse occurs
• Resources and ideas for social change
This must-read book is written with wisdom and compassion and features real-life examples.

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NEW!  This book helps adults and children open healthy communication about what is okay and what is not okay when it comes to touching private parts of the body. It uses child-friendly rhyming and colorful illustrations by a four-year-old to incorporate messages about sexual abuse prevention. Statistics and information on childhood sexual abuse are included for parents and educators. A "MUST HAVE" for the children you care about!

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The book's star is Taylor, the turtle with autism, who shares what it is like to feel pain from the overwhelming movements and sounds around him.  His feelings are especially pronounced on square dance day at school when, filled with dread, he retreats to the sidelines and finds solace in his beloved books.  To his surprise, however, his classmates follow his lead and, in doing so, begin to focus less on their differences and more on all they have in common.

Sarah Stup wrote Do-si-do with Autism as a way to introduce children to the importance and joy of building meaningful relationships with those who have autism and other developmental disabilities.

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This fully illustrated mini-book is written for adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities. My Body...My Choice covers the basics of body safety and is empowering people with disabilities across the nation to resist and report sexual abuse.

The book can be used in group settings as well as on an individual basis. It has been incorporated into reading nights in group homes and used in recovery groups and prevention education classes. My Body...My Choice can also be used in peer education and "acted out" by individuals with disabilities. Plus, it's a simple, straightforward way for parents to teach their children about safety from abuse.

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Set includes the fully illustrated mini-book written for adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities and 15 laminated cards which can be used in group settings to encourage discussions and role play about sexual abuse prevention. The colorful cards are leader friendly, featuring the words from the book on the back of each picture.

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"People with disabilities are the last minority group in which legal segregation for housing and employment is still routinely provided", writes human services professional Dale DiLeo. "And their lives are controlled by one of the last publicly-funded monopolies in America today." He speaks of the "disability industrial complex", a vast array of systems and funding sources that, once upon a time, paid for atrocities as Raymond's Room.  This was a stifling, smelly bedroom where up to four "unruly" students at a school for children with autsim spent most of the day and even slept. Granted, services for people with disabilities have vastly improved since the days when Raymond's Room was a common phenonmenon, but today's society still has a long way to go in terms on integrations and inclusion.  DiLeo encourages readers to think twice about services for people with disabilities. After reading Raymond's Room, one will hopefully see that all people with disabilities, regardless of degree or severity, deserve far more in life.

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Ms. Anderson challenges the beliefs and attitudes of family members, educators, and professionals concerning the sexuality of people with developmental disabilities. She then guides readers in helping meet the social-sexual needs of the people they love and serve. Overflowing with passion and filled with wisdom, this book provides a philosophical yet practical definition of sexuality.

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This book provides an insightful, creative assessment for people to explore their individual spiritual gifts and to find how best to use them in their lives.

Spiritual gifts have often been overlooked as an important facet to people's quality of life, and the time has come to pay attention to all needs, especially those that lie deep within the emotional self.

This interfaith resource can be used by everyone—individuals, staff, groups, families—in many different settings. It includes ideas for making certificates, necklaces, and bracelets as physical representations of individual gifts. By searching for and identifying with spiritual gifts, people are able to connect with one another and with the world around them, which empowers them to be all they are able to be. The colorful and unique images bring the spiritual gifts to life.

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Grieving is not a process to be avoided, rushed, or silenced. Lessons in Grief and Death tells poignant stories from the lives of real people. It offers valuable lessons about the cycle of life and the power of people with developmental disabilities to master this deep emotional challenge.

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Self-esteem is a process of learning how to give yourself approval and tell yourself, "I'm okay." It develops from the process of learning to give yourself approval as well as learning how to be responsible toward others. Self-esteem includes a balance with a sense of belonging, a sense of inclusion rooted within a deeper understanding that each of us is also like other people.

Feeling Good About Yourself is both inspiring and practical and includes ideas and activities to teach self-esteem, socialization skills, sex information, decision making, assertiveness, and victimization prevention.

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 In this honest and heartfelt collection of writings, Sarah takes us inside her world so we can experience the very sights, sounds and feel of autism. Her vivid imagery and wrenching language reveals “the beast” but also the special gifts it imparts, gifts that make her the unique person she is. This book is about more than autism. Ultimately, it is a book about life. From family to oceans, coffee to snowflakes, writing to love—Sarah shares her insights about each and more through her poems, reflections and essays. In doing so, she joins the company of other great young writers. Sarah Stup of Federick, MD is a 23-year-old writer with autism—and a mission. Her dream is to help others better understand and accept people with autism. That message is at the heart of her book are your eyes listening?

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What can art teach us about disability issues, and about the journeys that people face when they or their loved ones have them? Everything. In this vivid and poignant book of paintings and reflections upon them, Candee Basford reveals the things that she has learned while living with her daughter, Katie. Pieces shown in the book include The Map to Community, Love is a Way of Knowing, The I.E.P. Meeting, and A Conversation with Katie, the painting from which the book's title is taken. Put aside your expectations, this is not an ordinary coffee-table book of art. We Dance Together weaves 26 years of lessons in love, relationships, ambiguity, and passion together. It is an authentic, personal look inside the ongoing civil rights struggle for dignity, justice, and inclusion of people with labels of disability.

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The short yellow vehicle has long been a symbol for disability, namely the limitations, preconceptions, and stereotypes associated with it. Jonathan Mooney, having been diagnosed with a learning disability, knows full well what riding "the short bus" means and what the outside world thinks of it and of people like himself. However, through a revealing journey across the United States in a short bus (which Mooney affectionately christens Bob Henry), Mooney learns that disability as we know it should never define who people are as people. He meets Candee and Katie Basford, the author and inspiration of the art book We Dance Together; Ashley, a girl who is non-verbal but speaks a thousand words with her eyes and gestures; Cookie Davis, an eccentric and transgendered man who revels in painting landscapes of his beloved Maine, and an energetic, paintball-loving boy named Brent among others. All of them, including Jonathan, either were or would be considered short bus riders, and yet they all transcend the hidden restrictions, small dreams, and low expectations that the world of the short bus has traditionally offered. Read this book and see what goes on inside The Short Bus, and I guarantee you won't "climb out" with the same perceptions you had before!

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One might consider Jackson to be a very strange boy. He is obsessed with weather, monkeys, and the proper speed of ceiling fans. Jackson doesn't seem to get jokes, and he takes statements very literally, moving his arms and body in the manner of a construction crane when his teacher scolds him to pick up his crayons: "You need to keep your arms by your side if you can't control them!" Jackson, however, is not strange at all. He's a typical kid, like all of us once were, who just happens to have Asperger Syndrom, a condition on the autism spectrum. Join Jackson and Tyler, one of his classmates at school (who also has a cousin with Asperger's) as they struggle, laugh and learn together, eventually becoming friends. If you are into hi-jinks and humor with a lot of heart, then Jackson Whole Wyoming is for you!  This book is especially appropriate for children in 2nd to 8th grades.

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The intelligent, kind (and sometimes brutally honest) title character of Jackson Whole Wyoming is back, and he's moved to a different school! This time, a feisty curly-haired girl named Hillary meets Jackson. She can't understand why he carries a first-grade backpack with monkeys on it, insists on sharpening his numerous pencils every day and lining them up in order, and doesn't get it when the other kids in his class are telling jokes or making fun of him. However, Hillary has issues of her own.  She doesn't have a computer or other nice things, uses less-than-stellar grammar, and has a problem with lying. When Hillary and Jackson are assigned to be partners on a science project, they slowly learn to appreciate each other's differences as well as similarities. Even though Hillary finds out Jackson has Asperger's Syndrome, a condition on the autism spectrum, she does not let that get in the way of their budding friendship. Come along with these two as they partner up and prepare a perfect presentation. This book will make you laugh and cry, but more importantly, it will make you think. Children in 2nd to 8th grade will especially love it!

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AMERICA is written through the eyes of a young man with Down Syndrome. The book includes 53 insightful profiles of people and events that shaped our nation's history, illustrated with Connor's remarkable drawings. Student will learn about our nation's journey to "get it right":  civil rights, women's rights, religious freedom, why wars began, and personal responsibility. This book educates, inspires, and motivates even those who dislike history. Connor's insight helps us to make sense of our past and inspires us to make a different future.

"A distinctive American perspective from a unique young man." - said the late Tim Russert of NBC's Meet The Press

2009 IPPY Award Winner - Independent Spirit Gold Medal for being the book judged "most unique and heartfelt."

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Poet Marlin Thomas was seven years old when he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy; he wasn't expected to live past the age of 17.  After Marlin died at the age of 30, his mother, Cynthia Campbell, compiled this collection of poetry as a tribute to his life.  Marlin's poems reflect his life, dreams, hopes, and commitment to the Disabled Rights Movement.  Packed with emotion and written in modern free verse, Marlin's poetry provided an outlet for him to shout about inequality, to laugh about the absurd, to love intensely and passionately, and to ponder life's complexities. 

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A CD of prevention music for all children. The CD includes songs about self-esteem, feelings, touches, telling, secrets, diversity, respect, and more. Includes 10 songs, 10 karaoke tracks, and activities.

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A powerful song about sexual abuse of a person with developmental disabilities. Useful in counseling, employee development, prevention education, parent education, and community awareness.

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What's it really like to have a developmental disability? Amy Walker knows! Having lived with cerebral palsy since birth, she tells it like it is using the alphabet to relate her experiences in a poem. We hope it will make you laugh, cry, and think. Amy hopes to use the net proceeds from the sale of this DVD to start a "Dream Fund," so people with disabilities can afford their dreams.

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This powerful four-minute video features 10 self-advocates proclaiming some of their deepest values concerning disability, civil rights, and living with dignity. Viewers will be both uplifted and challenged as self-advocates respond to the question, "What values are most important to you?" This short video is perfect for conferences, workshops, and staff trainings. Closed captioned DVD.

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Using the acclaimed talents of the Interact Theatre Company, My Choice, Your Decision illustrates the often hilarious differences between what people with disabilities want for themselves and new fads of providing them service. Comprised of actors with and without developmental disabilities, Interact Theatre is brilliant at using humor to uncover our most basic prejudices and common mistakes.

Exercises bring participants through the ABCs of understanding choices and making decisions. This video is a must for individuals and groups working on the basics of self-advocacy and an effective tool for showing staff and professionals how to share power. Learn how to set goals, make decisions, and work through conflict. Choose from 12 easy-to-follow exercises that build real-life skills.

My Choice, Your Decision is perfect for staff trainings, self-advocacy gatherings, and everyone working to improve service systems. It includes a facilitator’s handbook with discussion guide, participatory exercises and tips for trainers, and a closed captioned video featuring interviews with the cast and director. My Choice, Your Decision is a National Council on Foundations Film Festival Award Winner.

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NO How! was developed by Dave Hingsburger and Diverse City Press. The actors and actresses are people with developmental disabilities teaching others about sexual abuse—what it is and how to prevent it. The DVD includes all of the important elements of sexual abuse prevention as well as a problem-solving process for persons with developmental disabilities.

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This user-friendly curriculum incorporates human interaction, movement, and sensory experience to provide intellectual stimulation and relationship skills for adults with significant intellectual disabilities.  Each of the 16 program domains includes activities to maximize participation with a focus on outcomes to provide both the student and teacher a meaningful day.  Those long hours of nothingness evaporate as both get involved in activities and community. 

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This curriculum is designed to teach adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities about psycho-social and sexual development throughout the human life cycle. Self-esteem, privacy awareness, respectful relationships, independence, appropriate/inappropriate touch, abuse prevention, and physical growth and change are some of the key concepts emphasized. Life Cycle includes an instructor's guide, pre and post test, quizzes, lesson plans, and over 100 student lessons and activities as well as a CD with full-color illustrations to enhance the teaching and learning process. ©2008 published by Life Cycle Education Consultants, LLC.

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The WE CAN Stop Abuse curriculum was tested for two years in several Illinois communities and has been proven effective for teaching prevention skills to persons with developmental disabilities. The curriculum includes:
• Eight ready-to-use interactive sessions with several activities
• Curriculum materials for training parents and guardians
• NO How DVD
• Teach Me CD
• My Body…My Choice book, pictures, scenarios, and other teaching materials
• Introductory information for sexual assault center employees
• Goals and objectives for individual participants
• Evaluation instruments to measure individual skills
• Human sexuality resource list
• Overview of the WE CAN Stop Abuse Project in Illinois

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A curriculum for people of all abilities to learn how to be effective speakers. This resource can be presented as a full-day workshop or broken down into four sessions. The package includes a particpant's manual, trainer's manual, set of laminated pictures, and a CD with participant's manual and other documents.

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Set includes 80 crisp and attractive question cards with instructions describing the many games which can be played. This game is great for stimulating positive conversation for people of all ages. Affirming and rewarding for each player!

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