Calls for better sex ed for disabled
Young people with learning disabilities must receive better information and education about sex and relationships, a three-year project has found.
Led by disability rights charity Change, research informed by the views of young people with learning disabilities, parents and teachers, found that young people needed to be better informed about same sex relationships, abuse and the difference between public and private spaces.
The report, due to be published at the end of the month, calls for sex education to be provided at a level that those with learning disabilities can understand.
Researcher Ruth Garbutt said young people with learning difficulties have a right to sex education. “Just teaching biology isn’t enough,” she said. “Now young people with learning difficulties are living more in the community and are not segregated.
“They want to do the same things as everyone else, including having relationships, and they need to have the capacity to make their own choices.”
Researchers included the experiences of young people with learning disabilities by holding drama groups, interviews and a survey.
The report recommends that professionals need better training to understand the needs of young people with learning disabilities, especially those with the most complex needs. It calls for more support for young people with learning disabilities in mainstream schools and urges that the topic of pleasure be included in sex education, not just biological aspects.
Change has produced five booklets for young people on sexual abuse, safe sex, friendships and relationships, sex and masturbation, and same sex relationships.
For more information about Change (“People with learning disabilities working for equal rights”), go to www.changepeople.co.uk/