S.T.A.R.S.: Skills Training for Assertiveness, Relationship-Building, and Sexual Awareness
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Author: Susan Heighway
Publisher: Future Horizons
Paperback:
ISBN 10: 1932565256
ISBN 13: 978-1932565256
For those with developmental disabilities like autism and Asperger's Syndrome, relationship boundaries may be blurry―or even invisible. This book is an invaluable tool for helping students understand their relationship to others, and for teaching students how to interact with others appropriately. The “STARS” program helps caregivers and professionals provide students with this knowledge, plus the self-esteem to put it into practice.
Educate young adults and build their self-esteem so they can make informed choices! Specially designed for teaching adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities, the STARS model focuses on four areas (Understanding Relationships, Social Skills Training, Sexual Awareness, and Assertiveness) with the goals of promoting positive sexuality and preventing sexual abuse. Assessment tools help identify the strengths and needs of each individual, and then the activities can be catered to address specific needs.
Goals and activities cover a variety of important skills:
Building a Positive Self-Image Making Choices Learning Relationship-Appropriate Behaviors Engaging in Mature Relationships Identifying Body Parts and Understanding Their Functions Understanding Public and Private Behavior Understanding Sexual Feelings and Behaviors Understanding Reproduction Health Issues Related to Sexual Awareness Recognizing a Situation as Potentially Unsafe Learning to Say No Using Basic Self-Protect "STARS is one of the most valuable tools on my office bookshelf. I use it often to evaluate community safety, teach about inappropriate sexual behaviors, and to structure my consultation and training to residential and vocational support providers." - Patricia Miles Patterson, LCSW Midwest Center for Psychotherapy and Sex Therapy, Middleton, WI
Review
“STARS is one of the most valuable tools on my office bookshelf. I use it often to evaluate community safety, teach about inappropriate sexual behaviors, and to structure my consultation and training to residential and vocational support providers.”
Patricia Miles Patterson, LCSW Midwest Center for Psychotherapy and Sex Therapy, Middleton, WI
About the Author
Susan M. Heighway, MS, PNP-BC, APNP is a clinical professor and nurse practitioner with the University Center for Excellence in Disabilities, Waisman Center, and a Faculty Associate with the School of Nursing, University of Wisconsin-Madison. At the Waisman Center, she works as a nurse practitioner in two outpatient clinics serving people ranging in age from birth to adulthood who have developmental disabilities or genetic/metabolic disorders, along with those individuals' families. She is also the Nursing Discipline Coordinator for a federally funded Maternal and Child Health interdisciplinary leadership training program for graduate students.
Susan Kidd Webster, MSSW, LCSW is on the faculty of the School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison. For many years, she worked on capacity-building projects to support people with developmental disabilities in the community as an outreach specialist with the Waisman Center. Currently she teaches courses and coordinates training opportunities for undergraduate and graduate social work students focusing on people with developmental disabilities. She is also the parent of an adult son with cognitive disabilities.
Both Ms. Heighway and Ms. Webster have more than twenty years of experience in the area of sexual abuse prevention and sexuality education for people with developmental disabilities. They both served on a task force that was convened by the Wisconsin Council on Developmental Disabilities that addressed issues of sexual abuse of people with developmental disabilities. For several years, they worked together at the Waisman Center. They have provided consultation to community agencies, presented at conferences, gave guest lectures on campus, and conducted workshops on the local, state, and national levels regarding the areas of sexuality and sexual abuse.
