People who live with disabilities (e.g., physical, intellectual, mental health and neuro-divergent) often face a range of social and economic adversaries including discrimination and prejudice that impacts their ability to work, get educated, and live in safe homes and communities. These disadvantages consequently impact the mental health and well-being of this diverse community. In this episode I interview two international leaders in the conversation on suicide prevention among people living with disabilities. Sheryl Boswell, from Toronto, is the Director of Youth Mental Health Canada and Lisa Morgan is the Co-Chair of the Autism and Suicide committee of the American Association of Suicidology.
About Sheryl Boswell
Sheryl Boswell is an educator, teaching elementary, secondary, postsecondary, and adult education students in Canada and Africa. She is the Director of Youth Mental Health Canada, a charitable nonprofit organization focused on youth, family, and community engagement for mental health education, support, advocacy, and change. She is a suicide loss survivor who has contributed to provincial and national change in education to support students with mental health disabilities.
About Lisa Morgan
Lisa Morgan (she/her/hers) is a self-advocate and consultant in crisis support and suicide prevention for autistic people. Lisa is founder and co-chair of the Autism and Suicide committee of the American Association of Suicidology. She is a community council member of AASET (Autistic Adults and other Stakeholders Engaged Together). Lisa has a master’s degree in the Art of Teaching and is a board certified autism specialist. She is a peer reviewer of the online journal, Autism in Adulthood, feature writer of the online magazine, Spectrum Women, and the author of several books about crisis supports for autistic people. Lisa owns Lisa Morgan Consulting LLC at www.autismcrisissupport.com.
Show Notes
Sheryl’s Work
In This Together - My Life During A Global Pandemic
Sources of Strength for Mental Wellness
Sources of Support for Mental Wellness
Lisa’s Work
Autism Resources: https://suicidology.org/resources/autism-resources/
"Living Through Suicide Loss with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)" https://www.amazon.com/Through-Suicide-Autistic-Spectrum-Disorder-ebook/dp/B01MA1TR1M
"Living with PTSD on the Autism Spectrum - An Insightful Analysis and Practical Applications" https://www.amazon.com/Living-PTSD-Autism-Spectrum-Applications-ebook/dp/B08DC8XY2R
"Spectrum Women - Autism and Parenting" https://www.amazon.com/Spectrum-Women-Autism-Parenting-Renata-Jurkevythz-ebook/dp/B087CBC9G9?asin=B087CBC9G9&revisionId=&format=2&depth=1
"Crisis Supports for the Autism Community - a toolkit" https://suicidology.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Autism-Crisis-Supports.pdf
"Autism Resource for Warning Signs of Suicide: Considerations for the Autism Community" https://suicidology.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Autism-Warning-Signs-3.pdf
Webinars:
Crisis Supports for the Autism Community - Starting a Conversation https://www.suicidology.community/store/viewproduct.aspx?id=13897893
Autism Resource for Crisis Centers: https://www.suicidology.community/store/viewproduct.aspx?id=13893609
Research:
INSAR (International Society of Autism Research) Policy Brief of 2021 (attached below) Risk markers for suicidality in autistic adults - Molecular Autism
Kolves et al 2021 - 6.5 million participants over 20 years
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2774853
Raymaker et al 2020 - Autism Burnout https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/aut.2019.0079
Research award granted in 2021 and is officially starting in 2022
PCORI research award of 6.5 million dollars to look at two autism specific suicide prevention strategies and teach the best one to professionals working with autistic people.
A Comparison of Two Brief Suicide Prevention Interventions Tailored for Youth on the Autism Spectrum
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