Teaching Sex Education in Special Education: Course Structure

• In Event: Moscone Center West Roundtable Session 12
  In Roundtable Session: From Geometry to Sex Education: What and How We Teach Matters

Abstract

Sexuality, though a basic human right (Wilkenfield & Ballan, 2011), continues to be an area of little research and instruction for youth with intellectual disabilities, especially young women with intellectual disabilities (Lofgren-Martenson, 2004; Milligan & Neufeldt, 2001). As such, persons with intellectual disabilities are excluded from decisions related to their own sexuality because of enduring perceptions of them as perpetual children (Author, 2005; Collins, 2007; Milligan & Neufeldt, 2001). This presentation draws upon the narratives of young women with intellectual disabilities and their experiences in a sex education course. Their stories help us to understand their thoughts about taking sex education and how that course has shaped their knowledge and related outcomes in the area of sexuality and relationships.

Authors

• Amy M. Williamson, The University of Alabama - Tuscaloosa

• Kagendo Mutua, The University of Alabama