Transition staff discuss sex education and support for young men and women with intellectual and developmental disability

ABSTRACT

Background Young people with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) get information, education, and support about social and sexual relationships from different sources. Staff are often involved in providing this education and support. We explored if and how this support is offered to young people transitioning to adulthood.

Methods Focus groups were conducted with 17 staff from 3 transition services to illicit information about their experiences providing this education and support.

Findings A key theme was that staff are “reluctant counsellors.” Although staff provided social and sexual education, they reported being underprepared and relied primarily on their own values as guidance. They did this in full recognition that transition services filled a social gap for participants, blurring the lines between education and social support.

Conclusion Further research is needed to inform sexuality and relationship policy and practice during transition to adulthood, as this is a key learning and developmental time for young adults with IDD.

KEYWORDS:

• intellectual disability
• transition
• gender
• sex education
• sexual health
• staff

Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the 2012 Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability (ASID) research prize. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the ASID Board or the TTW service providers.

Conflicts of interest

No conflicts of interest are declared.

Notes

1 Codes in parentheses next to each quotation (e.g., FG1) demonstrate an audit link back to the data for each of the three focus group interviews.

2 A semicolon between quotations from participants indicates a different participant; phrases or words in [brackets] have been added by the researchers.