What is the Sexuality Practitioner Program? This is a professional development program designed to prepare the student to serve individuals with complex needs related to sexuality. The scope of this training prepares the student to complete various sexuality assessments, and train on abuse prevention & safety, and work with team members to address and support these complex needs. All students receive consultation with Shawn McGill and Sharon Potter, both of whom will be mentoring you through the training.

Why is this training being offered? People with disabilities are incarcerated at an alarming rate. Of those incarcerated in Pennsylvania, 56% have a non-psychiatric disability. People with disabilities are sexually assaulted nearly three times the rate of people without disabilities. More than 90% of people with developmental disabilities will experience sexual abuse at some point in their lives. It has been nearly two decades since the Safer Options Train-the-Trainer was developed and held in Pennsylvania. One pivotal person behind this was Sharon Potter. She also served as the Sexuality Consultant for the Office of Developmental Programs (ODP). Safer Options provided pivotal information related to the treatment, supervision, and support for individuals with ID/DD and problematic or offending sexual behaviors. Since this program, we have learned a great deal more about sex offender screening and treatment.

More importantly, we have recognized and learned to educate and support before offending (or victimization) problems arise. It’s critical to address issues on the front end before it becomes a crisis or issue of criminal offending. Those in our service system are faced with many complexities and challenges. Aspects related to sexuality are simply one challenge, but the pool of providers to address these issues is still very limited. This may be due to our comfort level, access to the information, or various other factors. Regardless, we want to provide a real opportunity for successful and lasting change and want to build capacity within the service system. Our podcast “Two Old Sexperts” began production in September 2022. We have over 1200 regular listeners in 19 countries. The feedback we have received, either in writing or through conversation, has been very positive. While this started as a fun collaboration, the short ride-in has shown us a lot more time and attention needs to be given to these areas of concern, and we want to be a support and a possible part of the solution. In response to the podcast, Shawn completed a small book entitled “Neurodiversity, Sexuality, and Gender Identity.” The book is now available, free of charge, to those who may need all of it or just parts of it. However, this is still not enough.

For more information, please visit www.shawnmcgillmsw.com.