CCL Home > Research Activities > Funded Research
Shaniff Esmail PhD Chelsea Krupa, MSc OT Douglas MacNeill, MA, Stephanie MacKenzie, BA
Summary (PDF 26 KB)
Full Report (PDF 182 KB)
Presently, Canada has well-established guidelines for sexual health education which have been implemented by the Public Health Agency of Canada. Although these guidelines mention the importance of diversity, they do not provide specific strategies or meet the unique sexual health needs of people with physical disabilities.
The purpose of this project was to develop guidelines for teaching sexual health education to children and youth with physical disabilities in order to meet their unique needs.
Overall the participants felt that sexual health education for children and youth with physical disabilities did not provide adequate information and that there are insufficient resources in place to assist service providers to deal with the topic properly. Strategies and suggestions were divided into three categories: content, methods of delivery, and environment.
In terms of content, all participants felt that children and youth with physical disabilities should get the same sexual health education as their able-bodied peer as well as disability specific information that incorporates the large variations that are observed within the condition. Also the sexual health education must include content pertaining to self-esteem, acceptance, and physical concerns.
When looking at the methods of delivery it was felt that sexual health education must be provided in a manner that is sensitive to the functional limitations of the specific disability, for example, the use of tactile models for students with visual impairment and the use of physical demonstration for students with hearing impairments.
The most conducive, safe environment for disability specific education was thought to be either in one-to-one or small group situations with an empathetic teacher or mentor where the individual has an opportunity to ask questions without feeling judged.
This project will not only benefit individuals with physical disabilities within the individuals studied, but can ultimately be used as a resource to assist students without physical disabilites, as well as parents, teachers, and service providers to appropriately deal with the topic of sexuality for various types of physical disabilites. The insightful information and strategies provided by the study participants can help these individuals address the unique sexual health needs of children and youth with phyical disabilities.