Member Bio

Leslie, IMEd, FAAIDD, is a Social Development and Sexuality Consultant, who has been the driving force toward the final frontier for people with intellectual disabilities: Sexual Safety, Rights and Responsibilities. She is the co-creator of the CIRCLES® Curriculum Series, a multimedia teaching tool designed to address the varied and unique learning styles of those with intellectual limitations and developmental delays. CIRCLES ® is also an App for Ipad and other tablets. Leslie recognized early on that individuals living an included lifestyle would require the same kind of information regarding social and sexual expression and safety that all the typical members of their communities already had, but that obtaining those skills would require a manner of presentation that was meaningful and understandable given the idiosyncratic learning styles of those with ID/D. She has written numerous articles both in print and electronically, an award-winning book, The Facts of Life…And More (also translated into Korean) that serves as a useful tool for families and professionals and as a text for graduate students at the University of New Mexico who are taking the course she designed and teaches on sexuality and intellectual disability. Leslie has trained and consulted to families experiencing ID/D as well as professionals in nearly all 50 states and numerous foreign countries to help them rethink their understanding of sexuality and how it interfaces with intellectual disability. She has been called as an expert witness in both the US and abroad to educate lawyers and jurors before they reach a verdict to convict or exonerate agencies or individuals in criminal and civil cases. Leslie produces and funds a free electronic video newsletter that currently circulates to nearly 1,000 subscribers.