Irene van der Zande

Irene van der Zande

Kidpower International Founder & Executive Director

Nonprofit organization serving individuals worldwide, with a strong focus upon children, teens, and young adults with disabilities via live on-line workshops and extensive educational resources.  In addition, in places where we have local instructors, we also provide in person services.   

[email protected]

Lessons Learned

• Powerful, positive, and respectful adult leadership is essential to keeping children safe, especially young people with disabilities.
• Just talking and worrying about problems is likely to raise anxiety without making anyone safer.
• Practicing what to say and what to do to handle different kinds of safety problems with people increases confidence, reduces anxiety. and increases competence.
• Safety skills are at the foundation of self-determination.
• Don’t assume that people can’t do something just because how they look or act.  We have known people who have worked with individuals with disabilities for years who were astonished at what they were capable of doing when they have the opportunity to practice safety skills in a step-by-step fashion starting from where they are.  

Resources Developed

• Safetypowers Resource Page for all abilities: Advocacy, Safety and Independence
• Safetypowers online course for teaching teens and young adults with disabilities (free on-line course with role play and teaching guides) – English - Spanish
• Kidpower Mini Safety Lessons: For Parents and Caregivers of Young Children – English – Spanish
• Kidpower Safety Signals for Everyone, Everywhere
• Unlimited Adaptability: Teaching “People Safety Skills” to Individuals With Different Abilities
• Kidpower Safety Plans for Children with Disabilities
• Little Books for Literal People
• Managing Wandering for People with Autism
• Self-Protection for People with Disabilities
• What Educators of Kids With Disabilities Can Do to Reduce Their Risks of Maltreatment
• Changing Systems to Protect Kids with Disabilities From Maltreatment

Suggested Resources

• We talk with the individuals who have the most knowledge and experience of the person or group we are trying to help. We also learn in the moment from the individuals we are trying to help.
• We “tap” into the Kidpower International community and our service partners to seek their knowledge and advice.
• We learn something new from each individual with disabilities we teach.

Collaborative Areas of Interest

• Live online workshops re. wide range of topics, e.g., sexual abuse prevention, bullying, safety in public, positive communication, etc. 
• Responding to questions re. personal safety of all individuals, with a focus upon children, teens and young adults with disabilities.
• National and international collaborative efforts to give more people access to our almost 35 years of expertise in teaching skills and creating resources for safety and success