When someone with IDD resists, lashes out, or shuts down, it's easy to mistake it for a behavioral problem. But it might actually be a trauma response, and knowing the difference can change how you support them.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are at a high risk of co-occurring mental health conditions, but this serious issue is often overlooked and misunderstood. This brief guide provides basic information about IDD and tips officers can use to increase effective communication, de-escalate situations, and increase everyone's safety.

Despite the prevalence of mental health needs among people with IDD, little is known about the best approaches for supporting the needs of people with IDD and co-occurring mental health challenges and their families. In 2019, The Arc conducted focus groups that probed the training needs of and barriers that disability, mental health, and education professionals face.

This brief explores the challenges people with IDD and mental illness and their families face in accessing needed supports, including the need for training, systems change, and greater public awareness of this issue.

This webinar reviews two recent projects to learn more about what people with IDD and mental illness need and how to better support people and families.