Disability and Sexuality within Social Work Education in the USA and Canada: The Social Model of Disability as a Lens for Practice

Abstract

Historically, social work education has included minimal attention to three essential foci: (1) disability; (2) sexuality; and (3) the intersection of disability and sexuality. The social model of disability, which elucidates the barriers guiding individual and societal responses to sexual access and expression regarding persons with disabilities, is an important foundation from which to develop curricula on these significant topics. Following a brief overview of social work education's inclusion of content on disabled people and sexuality, this paper provides examples of didactic material and classroom and field exercises that integrate critical subject matter on sexual orientation and disability and draw students' attention to micro, mezzo, and macro level interventions that will ameliorate disabling sexual barriers for clients.

Keywords:

• Sexuality
• Disabilities
• Social Model
• Social Work Education
• Social Work Practice