Sex education is to guide and support a child in sexual development, and since a child with a physical disability or a chronic illness also is a child, it is fully entitled to have sexual education. Children with special needs even require additional attention.
- Acknowledge the sexuality of the child:
Sometimes parents and even professionals think that children and young people with a physical disability or chronic illness have no sexuality. This is not true. They too are just like other children; sexual beings, with attendant feelings and needs.
- Talk with them explicitly about sexuality is a personal information need:
Children with special needs like other children, go through a sexual development, although sometimes in a slightly different way or at a different pace. They often do not have an intensive peer contact like other children have which contributies to a a natural way to know things about sex and relationships. By talking with your child about sexuality and to inform also shows you that you accept your child as a sexual being.
- Give it the space to experiment with sex:
Children with special needs are often very protected brought up. This way they miss, when young, often games where they can practice with sexual feelings and sexual conduct and learn to take others into account and toto discover own boundaries. The care of parents sometimes lead to ‘over protection’ instead of to resilience. In later years, the social control and the lack of privacy, create barriers for additional experimentation.
- Teach it to deal with physical intimacy
Children with special needs often have to deal with great care by physicians and other caregivers. Introducing the risk that the child object, so a distant body experiences can occur. At an early stage they often are confronted with mainly functional touches of parents, therapists and caregivers. At the same time also parents and professionals alternate with normal hugs and caresses. This combination are difficult to combine emotionally; later it can make border crossings to identify.
People with disabilities are more often victims of sexual violence than people without disabilities. It is also more serious sexual violence and the perpetrators are usually known to the victim. According to a recent Netherlands study (2011 MOBVISIE and Rutgers WPF) on 1800 men and women with disabilities (physical, mental, visual, auditory) gave the result:
17% of men with disabilities indicates that they generally have experienced childhood sexual violence and 40% of women did experience (standard rates in the Netherlands: 6% and 24%) 25% of men had undergo a specific described form of sexual violence (standard 21%) and 54% of women (56%) and there was mentioned explicitly rape in 4% of men (3%) and 18% (12%) of women.
Remarkably, the environment of people with disabilities (family, social workers and care professionals) showed much lower numbers than the individuals themselves. It appears that they are not always aware of the abuse. The perpetrators are mostly men and often acquaintances of the victim, such as family or a friend. Only a small group concerns the care workers.
The victims themselves indicate that especially more information and greater resilience would help to protect themselves against sexual violence, even at a young age. Guidance that actively anticipates on the possible occurrence of sexual violence is important. Carers and family, according to people with disabilities, need to be alert and be able to recognize signs and to intervene appropriately.
In compiling this article the Hanah team consulted the following sources:
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au
http://www.sexualhealthaustralia.com.au
http://www.meegeldersepoort.nl/
http://meezhn.socialekaartnederland.nl
http://www.familienratgeber.de
