Telehealth Certification Institute

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Telehealth for Clients with Intellectual Disability

Enroll in the Online Self-Study today
1.5 CE Credits available for behavioral health clinicians

People with intellectual disability (ID) have been a marginalized group in the United States for the past 200 years. Providing equitable access to and accommodations for mental health care is one way that practitioners may help to address these concerns. Unfortunately, during and since the Covid-19 pandemic, people with ID have experienced less access to supportive therapy as the field moved towards telehealth delivery systems. In addition, many practitioners may feel ill-equipped to understand or adjust their practice to meet the particular needs of this population.

In this training, Dr. Buckles will help participants understand how they may open their virtual doors to people with ID. General concepts behind the term intellectual disability will be explained while also briefly discussing the sometimes-ugly history of ‘treatment’ practices performed on this population. Specific attention is given to how current literature suggests that counseling provided through telehealth may be particularly helpful for people with ID. Specific tips for adjusting assessment and counseling methods are addressed in detail.

Select each tab above to view specific details of this course

People with intellectual disability (ID) have been a marginalized group in the United States for the past 200 years. Providing equitable access to and accommodations for mental health care is one way that practitioners may help to address these concerns. Unfortunately, during and since the Covid-19 pandemic, people with ID have experienced less access to supportive therapy as the field moved towards telehealth delivery systems. In addition, many practitioners may feel ill-equipped to understand or adjust their practice to meet the particular needs of this population.

In this training, Dr. Buckles will help participants understand how they may open their virtual doors to people with ID. General concepts behind the term intellectual disability will be explained while also briefly discussing the sometimes-ugly history of ‘treatment’ practices performed on this population. Specific attention is given to how current literature suggests that counseling provided through telehealth may be particularly helpful for people with ID.Specific tips for adjusting assessment and counseling methods are addressed in detail.

This course was recorded March 21, 2023

Upon completion of this training professionals will be able to do the following:

  • Explain general concepts of intellectual disability (ID)

  • Discuss a brief history of treatment and mistreatment of people with ID in the United States

  • Explain how telehealth may benefit people with ID in specific ways

  • Discuss recent literature on this topic

  • Illustrate ways assessment and counseling methods may be modified for this population.

Dr. Jason Buckles, Ph.D.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Jason earned his Bachelor’s in Psychology at New York University in 1996. While there he worked on diagnostic projects at Bellevue Hospital and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He earned his Master’s in Counseling at The University of New Mexico in 2001 and PhD in Special Education at The University of New Mexico in 2016. His dissertation focused on the experiences of direct support professionals who support people with sexually challenging behavior. Since 2002 Jason has been owner of Talkabout Inc., a Behavior Consultation agency specializing in supports for people with intellectual disability and concurrent mental health diagnoses. From 2012 through 2016 Jason was the Statewide Clinical Director of the New Mexico Department of Health – Bureau of Behavioral Support overseeing statewide systems of behavioral support consultation. From 2016-2019 Jason was the Executive Director of A Better Way of Living, a CQL accredited agency that provides life-wide supports for people with intellectual disability. He is currently a contracting consultant with the New Mexico Department of Health where he supervises the sexual risk screening program, the ongoing development of behavior support systems, and provides statewide trainings on co-occurring mental health conditions for people with intellectual disability among other topics. For several years Jason has also served as the Program Manager for the Developmental Disability/Mental Illness project with the University of New Mexico. For most of the past 20 years he was a part time instructor at both The University of New Mexico teaching Introduction to Intellectual Disability and at New Mexico Highlands University teaching DSM Assessment for Counselors.

Credit Hours: This course consists of 1.5 credit hours.

Counselors: Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No, 6693.  Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. 

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed mental health counselors. #MHC-0048. Approval renewal date: 1/31/2026

Marriage and Family Therapists: Many MFT licensing boards accept our courses or one of the approvals which we have from professional associations.  You can check with your board to determine if this course would be accepted by your licensing board.

Social Workers: Telehealth Certification Institute LLC, #1609, is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved as ACE providers. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this course. ACE provider approval period: 05/02/2021 – 05/02/2024. Social workers completing this course receive 1.5 clinical continuing education credits.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Social Work as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed social workers #SW-0435. Approval renewal date: 2/28/2026

Addiction Professionals: Telehealth Certification Institute is an approved provider of continuing education by NAADAC, The Association for Addiction Professionals, provider #193104, effective 04/03/2023. Full attendance is required; no partial credit will be awarded for partial attendance.

Psychologists: Telehealth Certification Institute LLC is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. Telehealth Certification Institute LLC maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Psychology as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed psychologists #PSY-0128. Effective 8/31/2021 – 8/31/2024

Art Therapists: Telehealth Certification Institute, LLC is recognized by the New York State Education Department's State Board for Mental Health Practitioners as an approved provider of continuing education for licensed creative arts therapists #CAT-0093. 7/21/2021 – 7/31/2024

Other Professionals: This activity qualifies for 90 minutes of instructional content as required by many national, state and local licensing boards and professional organizations.  Retain your certificate of completion and contact your board or organization for specific filing requirements.

To receive your certificate of completion you must complete the course in its entirety.

 To complete an Online Self Study Course, one must register, log in, select the My Courses option from the menu items, click the Course Title, complete all of the modules, complete and pass the post-test(s), and complete the course evaluation.

Psychologists and other professionals seeking CE credit through our approval with the American Psychological Association are asked but not required to complete the course evaluation before obtaining their certificate of completion, however passing a post-test for online self-study courses, and submitting one's attendance for live on-site and live webinars is required.

You can download or print your certificate of completion by logging into your account, navigating to the course by selecting the My Courses option from the menu items, clicking the Course Title, scrolling to the Certificate of Completion section, and clicking on the Certificate of Completion link to either download it or print it.

Directions for completing a course can be found by clicking here.

Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities

Click here to view our Accommodations for Individuals with Disabilities.

Cancellation Policy

Refunds are offered within the first 30 days for courses which have not been completed.  There is a 10% service fee for refunds.

Grievance Policy

Click here to view our Grievance Policy.

This course is intended for clinicians who provide behavioral health services.

Teaching methods for this course include recorded lectures, videos, a post-test, and a course evaluation.

This program was recorded on March 21, 2023

You have six months to access online courses from the time of purchase.

Jason Buckles Headshot

Jason Buckles
Ph.D.

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Jason earned his Bachelor’s in Psychology at New York University in 1996. While there he worked on diagnostic projects at Bellevue Hospital and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He earned his Master’s in Counseling at The University of New Mexico in 2001 and PhD in Special Education at The University of New Mexico in 2016. His dissertation focused on the experiences of direct support professionals who support people with sexually challenging behavior. Since 2002 Jason has been owner of Talkabout Inc., a Behavior Consultation agency specializing in supports for people with intellectual disability and concurrent mental health diagnoses. From 2012 through 2016 Jason was the Statewide Clinical Director of the New Mexico Department of Health – Bureau of Behavioral Support overseeing statewide systems of behavioral support consultation. From 2016-2019 Jason was the Executive Director of A Better Way of Living, a CQL accredited agency that provides life-wide supports for people with intellectual disability. He is currently a contracting consultant with the New Mexico Department of Health where he supervises the sexual risk screening program, the ongoing development of behavior support systems, and provides statewide trainings on co-occurring mental health conditions for people with intellectual disability among other topics. For several years Jason has also served as the Program Manager for the Developmental Disability/Mental Illness project with the University of New Mexico. For most of the past 20 years he was a part time instructor at both The University of New Mexico teaching Introduction to Intellectual Disability and at New Mexico Highlands University teaching DSM Assessment for Counselors.