Sexuality and Sexual Education for People with Disabilities (66053)
Session Chair: Somer Matthews
Saturday, January 7, 2023 (15:50)
Session: Session 5
Room: 323B
Presentation Type:Oral Presentation
The importance of sexual education for all people cannot be overstated. Appropriate sexual education prior to adulthood has been linked to greater positive sexual outcomes later in life. Specifically, appropriate sexual education has been linked to increased use of contraception resulting in less sexually transmitted infections (Bourke et al., 2014; Lindberg & Maddow-Zimet, 2012). It has even been linked to decreased likelihood of sexual abuse (Santelli et al., 2018). Despite all of these benefits, however, people with disabilities are routinely denied formal sexual education (Holland-Hall & Quint, 2017). Further, interviews with people with intellectual disabilities have found that even when they have been exposed to sexual education, it has often been sub-par and not in accessible language (Swango-Wilson, 2011). This presentation will provide a brief overview about the importance of Sexuality Education for this population as well as a look into the literature surrounding the subject. The presentation will then present some individual perspectives from people with disabilities surrounding sexuality and sexual education. Finally the presentation will end by providing some information about resources, both free and paid, that can help parents, teachers, and caregivers tackle this important instruction for their students.
Authors:
Somer Matthews, University of North Carolina Greensboro, United States
About the Presenter(s)
Ms Somer Matthews is a University Doctoral Student at University of North Carolina Greensboro, United States
See this presentation on the full schedule – Schedule
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