1. HUMAN SEXUALITY
EDUCATION FOR
INDIVIDUALS WITH
DISABILITIES
And Those That Work With Them
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2. DISABILITIES AMONG
ADULTS AGES 18-35
• Population 16 to 64.............. 178,687,234
• With any disability .................. 33,153,211
• Sensory...................................... 4,123,902
• Physical.................................... 11,150,365
• Mental . . . ................................ 6,764,439
• Self-care . . ............................... 3,149,875
Individuals with Disabilities (Physical,
Intellectual) is the largest minority
group in the United States.
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3. DISABILITY & SEXUALITY:
CASE STUDIES
• How much detail must I tell her? Won’t she just get confused?
• Is it really necessary to broach the subject of intercourse since
Johnnie is simply not capable of a close relationship, let alone a
sexual encounter. Besides, he’ll be accompanied all his life by a
support worker, so what chance is there that he will have sex?
• Ronda is non verbal—how can I possibly teach her information
related to relationships, and what is the chance that she would
even understand it?
• Joey has a severe developmental disability and will be child-like
for the rest of his life. He won’t need that type of information.
• Bobbie is still young, there is lots of time to think about teaching
him this type of information in five years or even later. What has
"sex" or "sexuality" got to do with him now?

4. FACT OR FICTION ABOUT
SEXUALITY AND DISABILITY
• People with disabilities do not feel the desire to have
sex (if disabled in one way disabled in every way)
• People with developmental and physical disabilities
are asexual, childlike, sexually innocent (do not
possess maturity to learn about sexuality)
• People with disabilities are sexually impulsive
(oversexed and unable to control their sexual urges)
men aggressive & women promiscuous
• People with disabilities will not marry or have children
so they have no need to learn about sexuality
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5. FACT OR FICTION ABOUT
SEXUALITY AND DISABILITY
• Myth 1: People with disabilities ar not sexual
• All people are sexual beings needing affection, love, and intimacy,
acceptance and companionship
• Individuals with disabilities may have some unique needs related to
sex education
• Individuals with developmental disabilities may learn at a slower
rate than peers yet physical maturation usually occurs at the same
rate
• Need sex education that builds skills for appropriate language
and behavior in public
• Paraplegic individual may need reassurance that they can
have satisfying sexual relationships and practical guidance on
how to do so
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6. FACT OR FICTION ABOUT
SEXUALITY AND DISABILITY
• Myth 2: People with disabilities are childlike and dependent
• Idea stems from belief that person with a disability is unable
to participate equally in an intimate relationship
• If viewed as child-like, or asexual, sexually offensive
behavior likely to be denied or minimized
• societal discomfort with disability and sexuality makes it
easier to view anyone with a disability as an eternal child
• this view denies person’s sexuality and full humanity
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7. FACT OR FICTION ABOUT
SEXUALITY AND DISABILITY
• Myth 3: People with disabilities can not control their
sexuality
• If people with disabilities are neither asexual nor
child-like then they are oversexed and have
uncontrollable urges.
• Belief in this myth can result in reluctance to provide sex
education as any offending behavior is seen as
uncrontrollable
• education and training are the key to promoting healthy
and mutually respectful behavior, regardless of disability
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8. FACT OR FICTION ABOUT
SEXUALITY AND DISABILITY
• All of these myths remove consequences from an individual’s
actions, excluding them from a chance to learn more
appropriate sexual behavior
• Sexuality important part of everyone’s life from infancy.
• Growth into adulthood combines a physically maturing body
and a range of sexual and social needs and feelings
• Adults with developmental delays are different from children in
appearance, past life events and available life choices
• We must guard against making inaccurate assumptions by
avoiding misinformation and a restrictive attitude towards
sexuality of people with disabilities

9. THE POLITICS OF
EDUCATION
• 1975 P.L. 94-142 Education of All Handicapped Children
Act
• Guaranteed a free, appropriate public education to each
child with a disability in every state across the country
• Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act
(2004)
• Students with disabilities have the same educational
opportunities to the maximum extent possible as their non-
disabled peers
• IEP include transition plans identifying appropriate
employment and other adult living objectives, referring
student to appropriate community agencies and resources
(must begin at age 14)
• Attitudes of people with disabilities has not changes as
fast as the laws enacted to support them – especially in
sexuality and disability
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10. SOCIALIZATION
• Important goals of any human sexuality education
program include promoting a positive self-image as
well as developing competence and confidence in
social abilities
• Individuals with disabilities have:
• Fewer opportunities than their peers to observe, develop
and engage in appropriate social and sexual behavior
• Fewer opportunities to acquire information from peers
• Often held back by social isolation as well as functional
limitations
• By fostering development of social skills, families and
educators can provide opportunities to learn about the
social contexts of sexuality and the responsibilities of
exploring and experiencing ones own sexuality.
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11. SOCIALIZATION
• Literature recommends:
• Helping develop hobbies and pursue interests or
recreational activities in the community
• Individuals with disabilities should engage in
social opportunities and to grow and learn from
social errors
• Extra-curricular activities present opportunities for
friendship based on commonality of interests and
provide opportunities to develop competence
and self-esteem

12. WHAT IS SEXUALITY?
• According to the Sex Information and Education Council of
the U.S. (SIECUS): Human sexuality encompasses the
• Sexual knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors
of individuals.
• Anatomy, physiology, and biochemistry of the sexual
response system
• Roles, identity, and personality; with individual thoughts,
feelings, behaviors, and relationships.
• Ethical, spiritual, and moral concerns,
• Group and cultural variations.

13. WHAT IS SEXUALITY
• Having a physical sexual relationship (biological/physical)
• Physical sensations or drives our bodies experience
• Genital activity is one small part of human sexuality
• Social phenomenon (sociological)
• Friendship
• Warmth
• Approval
• Affection
• Social outlets
• Spiritual
• Hygiene
• dress
• What we feel about ourselves (psycological)
• Whether we like ourselves
• Our understanding of ourselves as men and women (gender
identification)
• What we feel we have to share with others
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14. WHAT IS SEXUALITY
EDUCATION
• Comprehensive sexuality education takes into
consideration
• The cognitive domain
• facts and data
• The affective domain
• feelings, values, and attitudes
• The skills domain
• Ability to communicate effectively and to make responsible
decisions
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15. SEXUALITY EDUCATORS FOR
INDIVIDUALS WITH
DISABILITIES
• Families of individuals with developmental disabilities tend
to be uncertain about the appropriate management of
their loved one’s sexual development
• An individuals may not have lived in the family home and
may have relied on institutionalized treatment of
sexuality.
• Both Can be Concerned about
• Overt signs of sexuality
• Physical development during puberty
• Genital hygiene
• Fears of unwanted pregnancy
• STI’s
• Embarrassing or hurtful situations
• Fear that their child will be unable to express sexual impulses
appropriately
• Targets of sexual abuse or exploitation
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16. SEXUALITY EDUCATORS FOR
INDIVIDUALS WITH
DISABILITIES
• Problems most frequently mentioned
regarding sexuality education are:
• Inability to answer questions
• Uncertain of what the disabled individual knows
or should know
• Confusion, anxiety and ambivalent attitudes
toward sexuality of disabled individuals
• Equate learning with intentions to perform sexual
activities
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17. FAMILIES AS THE FIRST
SEXUALITY EDUCATORS FOR
THEIR CHILDREN WITH
DISABILITIES
• Families need to help their child develop life skills, this has
become more evident as the generation of individuals
that received Early Interventions demonstrates the
importance of life skills, and the ability to work, receive an
education, etc.
• Without appropriate social skills disabled individuals may
have difficulty making and keeping friends and may feel
lonely and different.
• Without important sexual health knowledge, disabled
individuals may make unwise decisions and or take sexual
health risks.
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18. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR
FAMILIES & PROFESSIONALS
• Regardless of disability, people have feelings, sexual desire,
and a need for intimacy and closeness
• To behave in a sexually responsible manner, each needs
skills, knowledge, and support
• Don’t expect that they know or don’t know the basics
• Always ensure the individuals confidentiality in asking questions
• Be sure that you know the correct terminology, be willing to
look up answers if you don’t know
• Learn as much about the disabilities as possible
• Before starting a conversation, make sure you know your own
values and beliefs
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19. GENERAL GUIDELINES
FOR PROFESSIONALS
• Be ready to assert your personal privacy boundaries
• Know your personal privacy boundaries
• Use accurate language for body parts and bodily functions.
• Individuals with accurate language are more likely to
report abuse if it occurs
• Identify times to talk and communication strategies that work
best
• Avoid times and strategies that do not work well for you or the
individual given the situation
• If you are uncomfortable, the individual will be uncomfortable,
seek support from managers, administrator, etc. when you
need it
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20. GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR
FAMILIES & PROFESSIONAL
• Be clear when discussing relationships (mother father vs, Paul and
Carol)
• Use teachable moments that arise in daily life (e.g., friends
pregnancy, marriage, adoption)
• Be honest when asked questions
• Always acknowledge and value the individual’s feelings and
experience
• Be willing to repeat information over time – don’t expect the
individual to remember everything you said
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21. TEACHING STRATEGIES AND
TECHNIQUES
• For individuals with learning disabilities &
mental retardation consider:
• Pacing of lessons
• Reading level and ability
• If reading level of materials is out of reach, limits
access to quality printed materials and resources.
• Small blocks of content presented at a time
• Simple and concrete terms
• Special materials
• More time and repetition

22. TEACHING STRATEGIES AND
TECHNIQUES
• Role play, modeling, play acting and interactive exercises, use concrete
teaching strategies
• Phone etiquette, initiating conversation, inviting a friend for a meal
• Be creative, develop specialized teaching tools and resources (models,
dolls, pictures, personal stories)
• Pictures of family and friends can be a springboard for talking about
relationships and social interactions
• Multisensory activities
• Illustrations, anatomical models, slides, photos, audio-visual,
interactive games (e.g., full body drawing or chart to show where
body parts are and what they do)
• Use photos, pictures or other visual materials as often as possible as well as
the library, other parents, websites, educators and health care providers
as resources
• Showing family pictures may help the individual understand different
types of families and relationships
• Repetition, practice, frequent review, feedback & praise
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23. TEACHING STRATEGIES AND
TECHNIQUES• Bloom’s Taxonomy
• Divides educational objectives into three
domains:
• Affective
• Psychomotor
• Cognitive
• Within each domain are different levels of
learning, higher levels more complex and closer
to mastery of material

24. BLOOM’S TAXONOMY
• Example: Cognitive domain
• Organized in sequence from basic factual recall to higher order
thinking with key words that describe each behavior
• Knowledge: list, tell, identify, show, label and name
• Comprehension: distinguish, estimate, explain, generalize,
give examples, summarize
• Application: apply, find, perform, demonstrate, dramatize
• Analysis: criticize, debate, distinguish, compare,
• Synthesis: plan, set up, design, arrange
• Evaluation: judge, score, approve, appraise

25. POLICY STATEMENTS ON
SEXUALITY EDUCATION FOR
PERSONS WITH A DISABILITY
• Policy development project for programs
• Evolved from need for guidelines to formulate consistent
responses to behavioral issues
• Public masturbatory behavior
• Individual engaged in self-stimulating behavior such as touch
his/her genitals, rubbing against an object, rubbing him/herself
against the floor in a public part of a building (classroom,
lunchroom)
• Unacceptable touching of others
• Couples engaging in intimate behavior in public places
• In the absence of a policy different staff members would
respond to incidents haphazardly and counter productively
• Consistency of response is an essential component to alter
maladaptive behavior
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26. POLICY STATEMENTS ON
SEXUALITY EDUCATION FOR
PERSONS WITH A DISABILITY
• Identify policy issues that need to be addressed
• Definition of sexuality
• Philosophy about normative sexual development
• Inappropriate self-touch
• Menstruation
• Toileting skills
• Allowable sexual expression
• Sexual orientation
• Sexual exploitation
• STI’s and HIV/AIDS infection
• Public and private places
• Inappropriate dress for work
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27. APPLY YOUR
UNDERSTANDING
• Develop a lesson plan on a sexuality education topic
discussed in class.
• Bring these lessons and any props you develop to next
meeting
• Be prepared to present and/or model your lesson for a
small group of your peers.