By Shelby Gordon
I believe everyone should have access to appropriate sex education regardless of disability status. As a clinical coordinator in Brooklyn and Staten Island, New York, I conducted comprehensive service evaluations, cross system crisis prevention and intervention planning, community training and education, and emergency response for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Often, individuals were referred to crisis services for “inappropriate sexual behavior,” ranging from public disrobing to public masturbation. There were stark contrasts between these individuals’ age, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, socioeconomic status, and even diagnosis of disability. Despite these differences, their reason for referral were the same. People were consistently removed from residential or day programs for these behaviors, leading to decreased social interaction and effectively taking away someone’s home. In cases of public nudity, police would get involved which directly put an individual with disabilities at risk of having legal charges being placed against them. It was a tremendous burden on both direct service providers and caregivers to support individuals who displayed “inappropriate sexual behaviors,” and I felt limited in my ability to help.
Seeing repeated referrals for crisis services that surrounded such behavior, I became quite interested in what could happen when someone does not receive sex education due to stigma or fear around disability. Rather than blame the individual, I worked closely with therapeutic coaches to provide psychoeducation on appropriate sexual behaviors on both an individual and interpersonal level. I believe that intervening early and providing appropriate sex education for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities could delay or even prevent these specific crisis situations.
Dr. Sarah Curtiss at the University of Delaware has created free sexuality education for individuals with autism and with developmental disabilities. It is called The Birds and the Bees and the link to it is here. Katherine McLaughlin at Elevatus Training is another great resource in sexuality and developmental disability. The link to the Elevatus Training website is here. Let’s work together to create productive spaces for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to get access to adequate sex education!
