Positive Ageing in Intellectual Disability: A Trauma Informed Lens

This three day in person course takes place on

25th & 26th September 2025

10th October 2025

Room 3, St Andrews Resource Centre, 114-116 Pearse St., Dublin 2

Price: Free (€100 refundable deposit)

It is an interdisciplinary course for social care workers and social workers. This is a free event with a €100 deposit refundable on course completion and attendance at a minimum of two course days. The course has been funded by the National HSCP Office, HSE. As such, places through the SCI are available to social care workers in the publicly funded healthcare service only.

Social care workers frequently work with a trauma population. People who attend primary care, residential and mental health services are more likely to have experienced attachment and trauma difficulties than those in the general population. Trauma has lasting adverse effects on an individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing’ (SAMHSA, 2014). Individuals with Intellectual Disability are three or four times more likely than people without Intellectual Disability to experience adverse events such as abuse, neglect and medical trauma. (Brenner et al 2018, Devaney et al 2019).

Learning Outcomes

• To generate greater awareness of Positive Ageing in Intellectual Disability
• Consider how trauma impacts on the health and wellbeing people with an Intellectual Disability
• Using a Trauma Informed lens to inform care planning and promote Positive Ageing in Intellectual Disability
• Using an attachment and trauma informed lens in self-care and team support

Facilitator Biographies

Aoife Bairéad works with families who have experienced stressors, loss and trauma and has worked with children experiencing mental health difficulties including infant mental health, and those who have experienced separation, loss, community and gang violence, bereavement and trauma. In 2018 Aoife set up Minds in Mind, a service dedicated to supporting children and their families. Aoife uses evidence informed assessment and interventions to empower families to find ways to improve children and their family’s day to day lives. This is done holistically with those caring for the children providing an individualised and family focused plan that caters to their needs and focuses on agreed goals and outcomes. Her primary degree is in social work and her post graduate training is in attachment and trauma informed assessments and interventions for children and adults. Aoife is trained in therapeutic approaches including Theraplay, EMDR, Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy and Mentalisation Based Treatment.

Michelle Carter is a Social Care Worker and Trainer in Supporting adults with Intellectual Disability to age positively. Michelle has 24 years’ experience in the field of Intellectual Disability as a frontline practitioner, many of these years as a Person in Charge in Residential settings. Michelle holds a BA in Social Studies and a Masters in Ageing Health and Wellbeing in Intellectual Disability. Michelle has a special interest in supporting adults with Intellectual Disability and ensuring their rights are upheld. Part of this is ensuring that they are involved and included in all decisions around all aspects of their lives. Her research highlighted areas that needed further work and support such as ensuring those we support are involved in all decisions around future planning, future health care and retirement planning as well as support with relationships and connections.  She is actively focusing on all these areas now through workshops which she facilitates for staff.