Ep 80: Worth the Conversation with Lindsey Strickland

Our children with disabilities and special needs are at a higher risk for becoming the victims of sexual abuse. To help us navigate, educate, and hopefully prevent this from happening, we have Lindsey Strickland from Worth the Conversation. She has a professional background in victim advocacy for children and families of sexual abuse, along with community education and prevention. After adopting her son with Down Syndrome, Lindsey realized she needed new strategies to educate and advocate. She spent some time researching and eventually created Worth the Conversation, dedicated to “equipping the Down Syndrome community to prevent child sexual abuse through education and empowerment.” To be clear, the conversation we had for this podcast applies to children of all needs, however unique and challenging. We began our conversation clarifying what sexual abuse may look like. I certainly learned something new about that, or at least had my eyes open to some things I hadn’t really thought about. Lindsay went over some of the big risk factors for our children and then helped walk me through some of the prevention strategies she shares. All of this information and more can be found on her website at worththeconversation.org. We also discussed what signs to watch out for that may be the result of abuse and what actions to take if you suspect anything. Talking about child sexual abuse is not an easy conversation to have, but it is one of the most important ones to have. Our children are undoubtedly worth it.