"Walk Against the Silence, Find Your Inner Voice" Color Walk & Resource Fair

The purpose of "Walk Against the Silence Color Walk" is to create awareness around the fact that lack of education on self-autonomy and personal rights regarding individuals with disabilities puts them at an unfavorable position not understanding if they are being taken advantage of. Research indicates that Individuals with disabilities are at a higher risk of being sexually assaulted and repeatedly sexually assaulted than their non-disabled peers.

At the Walk Against the Silence Color Walk event, there will be a resource fair that will give individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and their families the opportunity to find long-term services and support to help them remain in the community. The event is open to the public and welcomes all community members to come out and have a fun time outdoors at the beautiful Oscar Rose Park with music, games, and food. We will also have Self-Advocates with IDD giving speeches throughout the event.

The walking portion of the event is a short and easily accessible 5-minute horseshoe walk around the park while volunteers play educational information connected to IDD through set up speakers around the track while also lightly spraying participants with color powder.

We will also be speaking on our grant project's curriculum provided by Elevatus Training LLC, which is trauma and evidence-informed. This program has three main components consisting of tracks for Individuals with disabilities, parents and loved ones that provide care and support for people with disabilities. 

The track for educating people with disabilities is primarily focused on providing participants with a sense of understanding in having and maintaining happy, healthy and safe relationships, including the use of the internet and social media. 

All trainings promote all participants to better understand and support self-autonomy and understanding personal rights, regardless of sexual orientation or gender. 

The program also has tracks for family and friends of individuals with IDD as well as a track for professionals who may work with individuals with IDD. These tracks include how to talk with loved ones and individuals with disabilities on topics such as sexuality and encouraging and reinforcing healthy personal habits (both online and personal relationships).

For more information, contact Sarah Mendoza at smendoza@westcentraltexas.org.