Scoping review on sex education for high school-aged students with intellectual disability and/or on the autism spectrum: parents’, teachers’ and students’ perspectives, attitudes and experiences

ABSTRACT

Sex education is critical for the development of healthy sexual identity and relationships. However, students with intellectual disability and/or on the autism spectrum often receive less holistic sex education in comparison to their neurotypical counterparts. A scoping review was undertaken to determine parents’, teachers’ and students’ perspectives, attitudes and experiences related to sex education for high school-aged students with intellectual disability and/or on the autism spectrum. Findings revealed that only a few studies consulted students themselves, while most sought only parents’ and teachers’ perspectives. Teachers and parents had generally positive attitudes towards sex education for students with intellectual disability and/or on the autism spectrum. However, teachers’ beliefs may prevent them from delivering sex education as intended. Furthermore, parents reported a lack of confidence in discussing sexuality with their children. Well-designed, disability-inclusive education programmes that prioritise safety, assertiveness and self-determination can support positive outcomes. Removing barriers to sex education in schools, and learning from students with intellectual disability and/or on the autism spectrum what they think could improve things for themselves and peers, is key to supporting them with their needs.

KEYWORDS:

• High school students
• intellectual disability
• autism spectrum
• sex education
• scoping review

Conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Supplementary material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed here

Notes

1. Note on terminology. We respectfully acknowledge that there are differences in the ways in which people talk about disability. Some people with disability prefer person-first language, while others prefer identity-first language. We use person-first language when referring to students with intellectual disability, which reflects the predominant usage in the Australian and international context; and the term student ‘on the autism spectrum’, which has been recognised in the latest research (Bury et al. 2020) as one of the more acceptable terms to members of the autistic community.