VCU news

By Ahmed Asraf

As program specialist in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Education’s Partnership for People with Disabilities, Molly Dellinger-Wray has worked for more than a decade to address the epidemic of abuse and neglect of people with disabilities. 

In 2013, the partnership received funding from the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities to fund Project LEAP: Leadership for Empowerment and Abuse Prevention. The LEAP project employs people with disabilities along with a co-trainer to teach adults with disabilities about healthy relationships as a way to prevent abuse and violence. 

Dellinger-Wray believes there is no greater opportunity for an education student than experiencing firsthand what it’s like to teach people with disabilities. So when Project LEAP recently received a VCU Council for Community Engagement grant for “Expanding Healthy Relationships in Central Virginia,” she seized the chance to get her students involved.

Not only will they gather experience in teaching people with disabilities, but they will also have an opportunity themselves to learn critical information about the dynamics of domestic violence and abuse — worthwhile information for anyone, particularly college students.

“As a special educator myself, I thought that this was an ideal opportunity for special education students to be involved in carrying out the training,” Dellinger-Wray said. “In doing so, not only will they gather experience in teaching people with disabilities, but they will also have an opportunity themselves to learn critical information about the dynamics of domestic violence and abuse — worthwhile information for anyone, particularly college students. I would have loved an opportunity like this when I was a special education student.” 

“Expanding Healthy Relationships” promotes healthy-relationship education as a tool for preventing violence, especially for people with disabilities as they carry a higher risk of experiencing abuse. Interdisciplinary VCU students will train to implement and evaluate Project LEAP’s curriculum to address this disparity. 

LEAP training will develop skills for disclosing unhealthy or confusing relationships to a trusted person, and give a better understanding of healthy relationships to participating people with disabilities. Students will learn the dynamics of interpersonal violence and how to respond to disclosing abuse. 

In addition to Project LEAP, the School of Education also received a community engagement grant for the Red Flag Campaign, which promotes sexual and domestic violence prevention on college campuses. The Virginia Sexual & Domestic Violence Action Alliance developed the campaign in 2006, partnering with more than 200 campuses nationwide. 

VCU promotes prevention through an ongoing program-messaging evaluation to refine and test evaluation tools and social media messages for the campaign. 

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