Me and Others

Lesson 2.1

My Feelings

Why this matters

A young person who can say "I am angry" is less likely to show the anger in a way that hurts. Many young people have few words for feelings and show strong emotions through behaviour instead: shouting, running away, refusing.

Start with a few feelings that are easy to see in a face, and connect each one to the body and to what happened. A thermometer from 1 to 5 shows that a feeling can be small or big, and gives you an easy question: "How big is your anger now?" Practise calming when the young person is calm, never in the middle of a crisis. All feelings are allowed; some behaviours are not.

What helps

• Name your own feelings out loud: "I am a bit nervous today, because…" This is how the words get learned.
• Practise the calming strategies while they are calm, so the strategies are there when they are not.
• Accept the feeling before you solve the problem: "I see you are angry. Let us breathe together."
• Make a personal calm-down card with the two or three things that work for this young person.
• Never use the thermometer as a punishment. It is there to understand, not to judge.

Lesson 2.2

Talking and Making Friends

Why this matters

Friendship protects against loneliness and builds self-esteem, but young people with intellectual disabilities often have fewer chances to meet peers outside school and family, and may find it hard to start, hold and end a conversation.

Short scripts help: ready phrases that are practised until they feel natural, and then dropped so the young person uses their own words. When peers without disabilities are prepared and take part, contacts increase and attitudes change on both sides. The circles of relationships, family, friends, people I know and strangers, also carry the safety rules of the next two lessons.

What helps

• Practise the scripts in role play many times, then in a real situation.
• Prepare the peers. Tell them the young person may need more time to answer.
• Use their own interests as the topic. It is easier to talk about what you love.
• Praise the exact behaviour: "You asked a question and you listened to the answer."
• Create regular chances to meet: a weekly club, a game evening, a sports team.

Lesson 2.3

I Can Speak Up

Why this matters

Speaking up for yourself means saying what you want and need, making choices and defending your rights. Young people with intellectual disabilities are at higher risk of abuse and exploitation, partly because many have learned to always say yes to adults and want very much to be accepted.

The lesson uses three styles: the mouse who is too quiet, the lion who is too loud, and me, calm and strong. The safety rule is easy to remember: say no, go away, tell someone you trust. Supported decision-making means helping the person understand the options and decide for themselves, not deciding for them. Know your organisation's safeguarding procedure before you teach this lesson.

What helps

• Accept their "no" in everyday situations when it is safe. That is how a "no" learns to matter.
• Do not teach obedience to adults as a rule. Teach that the rules are the same for everyone.
• Use role play often, and swap roles so the young person is also the one asking.
• Know your safeguarding procedure. If a young person tells you about abuse, listen, believe them and follow it.
• Connect them with a self-advocacy group in your country, if there is one.

Lesson 2.4

Safe in the Digital World

Why this matters

The internet gives young people contact with friends, information, their own interests and more independence. It also brings scams and fake prizes, sharing photos and personal information with strangers, cyberbullying, and people who pretend to be a friend.

Rules work when they are concrete and repeated often: private things stay private, a stranger online is a stranger, and anything that asks for money, photos or personal information, or makes you feel bad or scared, means stop, do not answer, block and tell. Forbidding the internet does not protect; it only makes young people hide what they do online.

What helps

• Do not forbid, teach. A young person who only hears "no" will hide what happens online.
• React calmly when they show you something bad, and thank them for telling you.
• Help to set the privacy settings and to save trusted contacts with their photos.
• Agree clear family rules for screen time and for phones at night.
• Report serious things, threats, sexual content or grooming, to the platform and, if needed, to the police.

Lesson 2.5

Move and Express

Why this matters

Movement is a way of expressing yourself and a skill needed for dressing, cooking and work. Muscle tone, coordination and stamina differ a lot: young people with Down syndrome often need more practice for balance, young people with cerebral palsy may tire quickly, and some autistic young people find coordination hard. Every activity therefore has an easier version.

Big movements and small hand movements both matter, and rhythm makes movement easier to plan: music, a drum or clapping is enough. Dance gives young people a way to show who they are and is a natural place to include peers. The goal is taking part and enjoying it, not perfect movement.

What helps

• Start with movements they can already do, then add a small challenge.
• Put footprint stickers on the floor to show where to step.
• Give time to rest. Tiredness comes quickly, especially with cerebral palsy.
• Ask a physiotherapist or occupational therapist about exercises for a particular young person.
• Invite peers without disabilities to the dance activities. Dance includes people naturally.
• Applaud every performance, whatever its level.