Footprints Steps to a Healthy Life

Developmentally disabled individuals experience sexual and physical abuse at rates 50 to 60 percent higher than that of other groups. They are also much more prone to demonstrate "sexual behavior problems" due to cognitive delays, misinformation by caregivers and professionals, experiences of abuse, counterfeit deviance, lack of exposure to appropriate partners, and general de-sexualization by society. Until now, treatment providers had few legitimate tools for working with this population.

Footprints: Steps to a Healthy Life is for developmentally disabled adults and adolescents with sexual behavior problems, clients with learning disabilities, attention deficits, and less than average cognitive abilities. Thousands of individuals have benefited from the relapse prevention model used in Timothy Kahn s Pathways, and Roadmaps to Recovery workbooks. Now this material and additional material has been adapted to serve adults with developmental disabilities. This workbook will also inform clinicians, and give them concrete exercises and activities they can use with clients to make treatment more effective.

Footprints is intended to be used by the client in a structured therapeutic setting.

Footprints is full of creative ideas and methods valuable to clinicians working with persons with developmental disabilities who have sexual and other behavior problems. I plan to integrate Footprints' tools within our treatment strategies. When I showed it to my staff, they were all eager to get their hands on it. I think this is a great addition to the literature regarding treatment for persons with developmental disabilities. --- Gerry D. Blasingame, MA

As a therapist working with sex offenders with intellectual disabilities, I have encountered a dearth of materials to assist with the therapeutic process. Krishan Hansen and Timothy Kahn's book is more than a welcome addition to the field, it is a must. To find such a wealth of ideas, with activities that are in plain language without being patronizing and targeted appropriately for those with difficulty learning will help therapists better serve those in their care. --- David Hingsburger, M.Ed.