People with intellectual and developmental disabilities are often overlooked or forgotten when it comes to relationships and human sexuality. This oversight leads to a plethora of barriers and stigma for the disability community, including an increased probability of being victimized, lack of support services, lack of education about being disable and LGBTQ+, and what it means to give and get consent. Stigma silences crucial conversations and has devastating results.
The OCSE team has experience working with individuals with various disabilities including Autism Spectrum Disorder, Mild Cognitive Disability, Prader Willi Syndrome, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and more. We can provide education in-person or virtually, in groups or in one-on-one settings.
Topics we can discuss include:
- Communication skills
- Healthy romantic relationships
- Public vs private
- Online safety
- Personal hygiene and puberty (how bodies change)
- Body parts and what they are for
- Sexual identity: lesbian, gay, transgender
- Consent and permission
- Appropriate touch and boundaries
- Pregnancy and birth
- Decisions about parenting
- Condoms, birth control
- Sexually Transmitted Infections
What our clients are saying…
"I had one of my families share with me that this has been one of their most helpful resources. Sexual education for this population is not discussed enough and there are never enough resources. Many of our families are financially limited and cannot afford the resources that are costly. This has been extremely beneficial. One of my favorite parts was how much this program is geared towards client goals."
"It was tailored to the individual served and helped him to develop a healthy relationship, whereas the individual had, had previous sex offenses making it difficult to move forward."
Contact the Education Department at [email protected] if you are interested in learning more!
*All cases are reviewed in-depth to ensure proper alignment with our program. We may refer to another provider if the client needs are outside of our scope of service.