Blue Knot is thrilled to announce its new set of guidelines and plain English guide produced to inform better support for people with disability and trauma experiences. 

These Trauma-Informed Practice: Supporting People with Disability who have Experienced Complex Trauma were developed by Blue Knot Foundation for people and organisations that provide support to people with disability. In producing this document, we note that the intended audience is very broad and has a range of knowledge, needs and skills.  

The guidelines aim to provide enough knowledge and practical skills to help people provide general support for people with disability who have experienced trauma. They also aim to provide organisations with an understanding of what is needed to genuinely deliver trauma-informed services for people with disability. 

It is to be noted that these guidelines are not training documents for caregivers, support workers or advocates to become trauma-specialist therapists. Or to enable the provision of therapeutic services to people with disability who have experienced trauma. They are an important first step to increasing awareness and capacity within the sector. Implementation of these guidelines will require ongoing training, appropriate funding and resourcing, and service and sector-wide support. 

A plain English version, Disability Guide in Plain English: Supporting people with disability who have experienced complex trauma has also been developed to accompany the Guidelines for Trauma-Informed Practice: Supporting People with Disability who have Experienced Complex Trauma. It is for people who support people with disability who may not know much about trauma or about the experiences of people with trauma. It is written in plain English to make it as accessible as it can be. 

Blue Knot would like to acknowledge and thank the generous contributions of individuals and services across the disability sector who shared their lived experience and expertise in informing these publications, and DSS for funding the project. And stay tuned for their official launch on October 28th, Blue Knot Day 2021!