People with developmental disabilities have recently been identified as a group at risk of developing alcohol and drug addictions, as well as sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Some may be desensitized to drugs through a history of being medicated for behavior problems. Approaches taken by parents and caregivers may reduce children's vulnerability to developing addictive behaviors later on.
Expose Children to Healthy Community Venues and Activities
In adulthood, your child with a developmental disability will have access to the community as easily as anyone else. Begin to regularly take your child to positive social environments, such as libraries, community centre and gym activities, parks, places of worship, and preschool/playgroup settings. Giving your child a sense of belonging in the community will give them a sense of belonging, and less of a need to seek out connection through addictive activities such as alcohol, drugs and gambling venues. As soon as you are able to decipher preferences, develop social opportunities based on your child's likes and dislikes, and encourage this throughout childhood and adolescence.Use Social Stories to Teach Your Child About Trust
We often spend so much time trying to build trusting therapeutic and nurturing relationships with children with developmental disabilities, that we neglect to teach them how to distinguish between people they can trust, and those they cannot or should not trust. Social stories can help children learn that not everyone is their friend.Teach Your Child to Understand and Trust Their Emotions
Fear, anger, hurt and shame may be uncomfortable emotions, but ignoring or repressing them makes people more vulnerable to addiction as a way of keeping these feelings out of consciousness. Teach your child to label and express emotions in appropriate ways, and never criticize them for what they feel. Help them to trust their emotions as a way of distinguishing between healthy and unhealthy choices.Don't Train Your Child to be a People Pleaser
People pleasers have a hard time saying "no." In order to resist peer pressure to experiment with alcohol, drugs, sex, and other addictive and unhealthy behaviors, your child needs to feel confident and entitled to say "no." While it is important to teach them to consider the feelings of others, their own feelings about what is right for them must be respected, first and foremost. Part of this is teaching your child to cope with disappointment, so you should also say "no" to inappropriate requests on a regular basis, and provide your child with emotional support in coping with refusal.Educate Your Child in Self-Responsibility
People with developmental disabilities may discover early in life that they can avoid taking responsibility for their own behavior. This does not foster a sense of self-responsibility later in life, and makes them vulnerable to the influences of others (including negative influences that can lead to engaging in addictive behaviors). Start with simple tasks, such as cleaning up after themselves, following through on choices, and apologizing for hurting others.Increase Opportunities For Friendships and Relationships
Encourage your child to make friends in healthy social setting. Talk about what makes them feel good and bad about friendship, label their emotions, and teach them to discriminate between people acting in their best (or cooperative) interests), and people acting selfishly. Wherever possible, encourage positive resolution to differences, but never force your child to remain friends with someone who has mistreated them (even if they may be lonely as a result).Teach Your Child Appropriate Sex Education
Your child should know the correct name and function of each body part as soon as possible. They should know how to recognize if they are being sexually abused, in terms of physical acts. They should be encouraged to disclose any attempted or actual sexual abuse, and should be taken seriously if they do disclose. If they have been sexually abused, give them therapeutic and emotional support immediately, and on an ongoing basis, as needed.Do Not Make an Issue of Rebelliousness
Drug users like to walk the find line between conformity and rebellion. Young people have a natural desire to rebel, which may be rewarded by users and punished by caregivers. Accept differences which are not harmful, particularly in terms of self-expression. Encourage acceptance of diversity, while instilling values of self-respect and self-responsibility. Central to this is practicing what you preach, and role model taking pleasure in self-respectful, healthy behaviors.Be Critical in Your Choice of Therapies and Therapists
Stay aware of the risks to your child of becoming overly compliant, easy to manipulate, and dependent on others. Some therapies and therapists reinforce these tendencies, while others encourage independence. While a compliant and obedient child may be easier to manage initially, they may be more prone to rebelliousness later (which may surprise and anger parents), yet lack the tools to resist the manipulations of others.Discourage Manipulative Behavior in Your Child
People with disabilities may have a learned ability to manipulate other people to get things and attention for free (in some cases, this is a survival mechanism). They may learn to get things and attention without giving anything back. This should be discouraged, and parents, caregivers and therapists should work together to encourage an understanding of the concept of paying the price (emotional, physical, financial, etc) for everything in life.
