Dating for People With Intellectual Disabilities: Workshop for Parents & Caregivers

I Want to Date! Supporting Healthy Dating Relationships (For parents & caregivers)

This workshop is for parents and caregivers of individuals with disabilities who are interested in dating. The need for intimacy and meaningful connections with others is part of the human condition. People with intellectual disabilities have similar needs for intimacy but often encounter a unique set of barriers as they move into the dating world. In this workshop, parents will explore obstacles uniquely experienced by people with intellectual disabilities and identify helpful roles for parents and/or support providers as well as strategies for supporting self-advocates as they learn important steps in the dating process.

Terri Couwenhoven, M.S. is an AASECT certified sexuality educator who specializes in developing programs and resources for people who have intellectual disabilities, their families and the professionals who support them. She is the author of Teaching Children with Down Syndrome About Their Bodies, Boundaries and Sexuality: A Guide for Parents and Professionals, The Girls’ Guide to Growing Up: Choices & Changes in the Tween Years, The Boy’s Guide to Growing up: Choices & Changes During Puberty, and Boyfriends & Girlfriends: a Guide to Dating for People with Disabilities.

When she is not teaching or writing, she is the Clinic Coordinator for the Down Syndrome Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin. She is the mother of two girls. Her oldest daughter has Down syndrome.