TribTalk | Perspectives on Texas

A publication of The Texas Tribune
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Lindsey Zischkale

Implementation specialist, Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health, UT-Austin

Lindsey Zischkale is an Implementation Specialist at the Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin. She previously worked with individuals with intellectual disabilities and mental health diagnoses. Her work focuses on improving the systems of care available to people with mental health diagnoses and intellectual disabilities.

Latest Columns

Health

#Metoo must include the most vulnerable people in Texas

By Lindsey Zischkale,

There are a multitude of ways to prevent sexual abuse among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and one way in particular stands out as being simple and highly effective: Texas must provide current, comprehensive sex education for people with IDD, beginning with the roughly 3,200 residents of the State Supported Living Centers.

Health

An opportunity to do more for Texans with intellectual disabilities

By Lindsey Zischkale,

Some truly outstanding people work in the living centers. They make herculean efforts to improve the quality of life for residents. However, they’re fighting against a rip tide that can drown the most determined caregiver. Direct care is one of the most difficult jobs: turnover is outrageously high, and as a state we provide few incentives to keep doing it—let alone to do it well.