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The Importance of Sexuality Education for Children With and Without Intellectual Disabilities: What Parents Think

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Abstract

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) experience much higher rates of forced sexual interactions than non-disabled individuals, with incidence ranges from 44% in children (Ballan in J Autism Dev Disord 42:676–684, 2012; Kvam in Child Abuse Negl 24:1073–1084, 2000; van der Put et al. in J Intellect Disabil Res 58:979–991, 2014) to 83% in adults (Johnson and Sigler in J Fam Violence 15:95–108, 2000). These incidents may be perpetrated by others with disabilities (van der Put et al. in J Intellect Disabil Res 58:979–991, 2014) or, more frequently, by caregivers or others known to the individual. This may be the case because individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD)—especially those with very low IQs—tend to receive little by way of sex education. This study assessed parental beliefs of sexuality education needs of children with and without disabilities through an online survey comprised of questions about the parents, their child, and their attitudes about their child’s sexuality. Results showed that parents of children with IDD are less likely to believe their children will have consensual or non-consensual sex before age 18 than parents of children without IDD, but favor sexuality education for their children, with parents preferring to provide it themselves, with the assistance of or through preparation by workshop with a professional. These finding are discussed in the context of implications for intervention and increasing options for sexuality education for learners with IDD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Partnership for Behavior Change, 751 Donmoyer Avenue, South Bend, IN, 46614, USA

    Sorah Stein

  2. Centre for Behaviour Analysis, School of Education, Queen’s University Belfast, 69/71 University Street, Belfast, BT7 1HL, Northern Ireland

    Sorah Stein & Karola Dillenburger

  3. Department of Psychology, 7430 – Social Science Centre, University of Western Ontario, 1151 Richmond Street, London, ON, N6A 3K7, Canada

    Taylor Kohut

Authors
  1. Sorah Stein
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  2. Taylor Kohut
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  3. Karola Dillenburger
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Correspondence to Sorah Stein.

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Conflict of interest

Sorah Stein, Taylor Kohut, Karola Dillenburger these authors have declared that they have no conflict of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Stein, S., Kohut, T. & Dillenburger, K. The Importance of Sexuality Education for Children With and Without Intellectual Disabilities: What Parents Think. Sex Disabil 36, 141–148 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-017-9513-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11195-017-9513-9

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