WHAT ABOUT ME? –
WHY SEX EDUCATION IS EQUALLY
IMPORTANT FOR PEOPLE WITH
INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES & WHAT TO
DO ABOUT IT.
OBJECTIVES:
To
dispel myths surrounding sexuality
and people with disabilities.
To
identify reasons to advocate for
comprehensive sex education for
everyone.
To
understand risks that are specifically
isolated to people with disabilities
To
learn strategies for providing
education to this population.
WHAT IS A DISABILITY:
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54 Million Americans Affected
(USDHHS 2010)
A developmental disability refers
to a physical or mental impairment
that occurs before the age of 18.
It must affect a persons ability to
function in a variety of life skill
areas such as: Financial,
employment, self care, or self
direction.
Examples of disability are: Intellectual disability (MR),
Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Epilepsy, Down Syndrome.
Traumatic Brain Injury can cause an Intellectual
Disability.
Traumatic accident or illness can cause a physical
disability.
TRUTH OR MYTH:
ADAPTED FROM: SOCIALIZATION AND SEXUALITY BY W. KEMPTON
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Most people with DD learn about sexuality and
relationships from their peers.
People with developmental disabilities have higher
sex drives than other people.
Sex is such a natural drive that everyone, including
those with developmental disabilities, instinctively
know how to function sexually.
People with intellectual disabilities have a better
success rate for successful dating and marriage than
the typically developing population.
Individuals with intellectual disabilities have
inadequate sexual knowledge due to an inability to
comprehend basic sexual processes.
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES RECEIVED EQUAL
EDUCATION AS OTHER KIDS IN HIGH SCHOOLS
MYTH: PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE NOT
SEXUAL OR SEXUALLY ACTIVE, THEREFORE
THEY DO NOT NEED EDUCATION.
Developmental age vs. chronological age =
perpetual children
 The desire for sex and to be loved
permeates disability.
 Consent and Guardian Issues
 It also reveals something about how the world
views sexuality. Beauty, attraction, and
diversity.
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TRUTH: PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE AT A
MUCH HIGHER RISK FOR EXPLOITATION, DATE
RAPE, AND SEXUAL ASSAULT THAN THE TYPICAL
POPULATION.
Statistics
 Reasons for increased vulnerability
 Why education is clearly important here.
 Be honest with them. Prepare them for who are
the biggest offenders.
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MYTH: MANY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE
SERVED EFFECTIVELY IN THE MEDICAL COMMUNITY.
According to the US Dept of Health and Human
Services.
Among non elderly people with disabilities 25%
reported they had difficulty finding a health care
professional who understood their disability.
 Most medical related college degree programs do
not have classes discussing disabilities.
 Misperceptions and myths
 Communication
 Sensory
 Focus on disability not health care concern.
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DIFFERENT?
: PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ARE
ACCEPTED GRACIOUSLY INTO SOCIETY.
People with disabilities are viewed as less than.
On the outside of what is.
 Sexuality encompasses not only sex acts, but
appearance, body image, self esteem, gender,
orientation, and privacy and dignity.
 When someone is viewed in the social role that
they are children, how can society start to view
them as capable adults, desiring relationships,
intimacy and family?
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STD RATES AMONG PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
U.S. D.H.H.S Office of disability Companion to Chapter
25 of Healthy people 2010
Often people with disabilities have been excluded
from sex ed programs in schools.
 STD’s can go undetected for a variety of reasons
 Medical treatment is still done by pediatricians
later in life
 HIV rate among people with DD is increasing at
the same rate as heterosexual population
(Schwier & Hingsburger, Sexuality 2000)
 Everyone should know how to protect themselves
from diseases that can kill you.
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OTHER AREAS THAT DISABILITY MAY
IMPACT SEXUALITY
Social rules
 Sensation
 Freedom of expression
 Access to options
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Sex toys
 Privacy
 Dating options
 Transportation
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Body Image
 Reproduction
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DIFFERENT?
EDUCATION AND DISABILITIES
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#1 place people with DD learn about sex??
Societal myths lead to educational needs being
ignored
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High School
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Agencies
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Community Resources
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FLASH
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Circles
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YAI
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Planned Parenthood of NNE
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Life Facts
TIPS
FOR HELPING
Explain things in simple terms
 Use Pictures
 Treat with dignity
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Don’t talk with a baby voice
Call by name
Ask what they want to know
 Don’t be shocked at responses
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WHAT CAN YOU DO?
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Start to notice.
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Start to listen
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See the people around you as people, not disability,
handicap or different. These are people with
concerns and desires just like all of us.
Remember that a person with a disability may take
longer than another person to explain what they are
experiencing.
When conversations come up discuss what you have
learned.
Start to talk
Talk to the person, not the supporter.
 To your family. Teach your children diversity and
acceptance.
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ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE:
THANK YOU!!
Step by Step Training
Sara Camolli - Braband
[email protected]