Risk as a Right: Promoting Dignity of Risk in IDD Services

People with disabilities are often treated as though they are unable to make decisions or cannot be trusted to make “the right” decision. While staff and family may think they are protecting their client or loved one, this misguided attempt at protection instead leads to diminished self-determination and stolen independence. In this session, learn about the importance of dignity of risk—the idea that making our own decision and learning from our choices is a human right. Explore what promoting dignity of risk can look like in IDD services, how to balance this with your duty of care, and how to support your clients to make positive informed choices.

Lindsay Piper, MS, MNLM, GCSE, (she/her), is a sexuality educator and advocate, currently working as a sexual assault prevention specialist with the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities community in King County, WA. She has professional experience in early childhood and elementary education, emergency management, sexuality and healthy relationships education, and disability rights, advocacy, and services. Lindsay is fiercely committed to working to better the communities she lives and works in, and believes strongly in the importance of accessible, safe, and thriving communities for all people. She has had the pleasure of working with many organizations to advance sexual health equity and education for people with disabilities, including Seattle Parks & Recreation, the University of Washington, Special Olympics Washington, and others. Lindsay has appeared on the Culture of Consent Podcast for Seattle Public Schools in an episode titled Consent Education & the IDD Community, and has presented at conferences across the United States. Lindsay holds her Master of Nonprofit Leadership and Management and her Master of Science in Family and Human Development, both from Arizona State University, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Eastern Washington University, and a Graduate Certificate in Sexuality Education from Antioch University Seattle. She is a graduate of Leadership Snohomish County, and a member of Nu Lambda Mu International Honor Society.