Invisible Bodies: (Dis)abled Youth and Sex Education

• In Event: Roundtable Session 45
  In Roundtable Session: Disabling Intersections of Gender, Sex Education, and Families

Abstract

The construction of disability within sexual health education curriculum is rare. When the curriculum does take into consideration ability, youth with disabilities are often constructed as either asexual or as not having the same kinds of wants and desires as their adolescent counterparts. This study seeks to both deconstruct the actual images and portrayals of ability within sexual health curriculum and literature, while also understanding the way sexuality is presented within disability literature. Utilizing content analysis of specific curriculum (including videos, pamphlets, and websites) this research demonstrates the ways sexual health literature and disability literature neglect the lives of youth who are (or want to be) sexually active and disabled.

Authors

• Reshawna Chapple, Arizona State University - Tempe

• Sarah Flett Prior, Arizona State University