Sexuality
Youth with developmental disabilities have a range of curiosity and awareness regarding sexuality similar to that of other young people.
The more accurate information and social skills training youth with disabilities receive, the more likely that their social and sexual behavior will be acceptable to community norms.
Misbeliefs Regarding Sexual Abuse
Children and teens with disabilities are not vulnerable to sexual assault because:
Facts Regarding Sexual Abuse
Children and teens with disabilities may be more vulnerable to sexual assault for several reasons:
Section 2:
A S∙T∙A∙R∙S Model
The S∙T∙A∙R∙S model originated through our efforts to design a training program for teaching basic personal safety skills to avoid sexual abuse. As we began working with individuals, we quickly learned that the issues of sexual abuse were connected to other issues, such as the person’s self-esteem, assertiveness, understanding of sexuality, and opportunities to develop healthy relationships.
We recognized the need to teach and support positive expression of sexuality in addition to facilitating the learning of skills to prevent sexual abuse. Equally important were the environments in which people spent their time and the attitudes and values of family, teachers, caregivers, and the community at large. The realization of the complexity of the issues people were facing led us to develop our S∙T∙A∙R∙S model as a more comprehensive or holistic training model.
In our S∙T∙A∙R∙S model, we present a “building blocks” approach to training about the complex areas of sexuality and abuse prevention. Each content area offers concepts that are built upon in the next content area. For example, many of the activities in the “Assertiveness” section build upon content and behaviors that are acquired in all three of the previous content areas. The S∙T∙A∙R∙S model has four areas, with specific content areas in each:
Understanding Relationships
Social Interaction
Sexual Awareness
