Colonial Middle School Transition Fair

MCIL talks about THE TALK

 

By Allison Donald
Christina Clift and I attended the Colonial Middle Transition Fair for parents of children and young adults with disabilities.  This was my third year attending the event as both a vendor and a presenter in a breakout session. My breakout session this year was entitled The Talk:  How to Begin the Conversation about healthy relationships with your child with a disability. 

This transition fair was an opportunity for parents to connect with resource organizations directly related to disability.   It was also a good opportunity for MCIL to communicate with parents and let them know that the Center provides services that can benefit children with disabilities.

Our primary goal for the fair was to make parents aware of the services MCIL offers. Particularly self-advocacy, peer counseling and information and referral.  As vendors we spent the majority of our time talking with parents about options for their children with disabilities. 

Christina and I outlined how we assist people in setting goals and achieving them. We also took the opportunity to network with organizations like You Can Achieve Now (UCAN). They work with adolescents through mentoring, workforce development, and bully awareness.  UCAN is starting to explore working with youth with disabilities.  MCIL would be a great partner for UCAN and I look forward to following up with their outreach team. 

The presentation was to the point we wanted the parents to know that the conversation on intimacy. The Talk is one that typical children and disabled children must have.  

Christina and I addressed the stereotypes about people with disabilities and what could happen if those myths are not talked about openly with your child.  At the conclusion of our presentation we told parents that people with disabilities need to know what healthy relationships look like in all forms. To pretend that part of being human does not include intimate relationships is not reality.