“Expressing sexuality is part of the human experience, yet sexual health education is often ignored in regard to persons with w88 sports betting app,” Anna Treacy, sexual health educator and University of Nevada, Reno doctoral graduate is special education and disability studies and postdoctoral researcher in educational leadership, said.
Research shows that 69 percent of people with a severe intellectual disability have been sexually abused – the more severe a person’s disability, the more abuse they receive. According to the World w88 sports betting app Organization, individuals with w88 sports betting app still experience the highest rates of mental, emotional, physical and sexual abuse.
“What adds to these already startling statistics is that many adolescents with w88 sports betting app lack the knowledge needed to develop sexual identity, of those experiencing abuse, many don’t even know they are being abused. Lack of knowledge leads to the inability to distinguish what is and is not acceptable,” Treacy said. “Perpetrators look at them as the perfect victim. The opposite is also true. These students, without access to sexual health knowledge, can become the perpetrator.”
For her dissertation, Treacy, with support from Shanon Taylor, University associate professor of special education, and Tammy Abernathy, professor of special education, researched sexual health education for individuals with w88 sports betting app. In a recent article published in the “American Journal of Sexuality w88 sports betting app,” Treacy wrote about this research, which examines the risks to people with w88 sports betting app, current barriers to sexual health education and available resources. The mixed method research combines both qualitative and quantitative data.
The risks
The U.S. Department of Justice reports a significantly high rate of sexual assault (68-83 percent) for women with developmental w88 sports betting app. Reports also indicate that children with w88 sports betting app are 3.4 times more likely as children without w88 sports betting app to be sexually abused.
According to Treacy and Taylor, limited resources do exist for sexual health education for persons with w88 sports betting app, however, there is a gap in how the information is available in today’s special education system.
“There is liability everywhere, which is likely why educational standards continue to vary,” Taylor said. “Even though there is 30-plus years of research on the importance of sexual education, there continues to be a disconnect with how it is implemented, especially for students with intellectual w88 sports betting app.”
Being able to provide proper sexual health education that adequately addresses student’s preferred learning and communication method is proving to be very difficult for school districts. According to federal special education law, the Individuals with w88 sports betting app Education Act, there are 14 different disability categories, each with varying learning characteristics, which compounds the problem of developing appropriate sexual health course material. For instance, students with autism spectrum disorder need access to direct instruction that incorporates picture cues and non-abstract descriptions, while those who have hearing impairments require a different type of instruction. This lack of consistent teaching structure leads teachers to feel anxious and fearful about teaching sexual health education to those with w88 sports betting app.
In Nevada, every school district gets to decide what the sexual health education curriculum includes. In some states, the state board of education may mandate sexual education guidelines for the entire state. While some districts cover sexual education for the general student population, Treacy and Taylor’s research showed variability in the education people with intellectual w88 sports betting app receive. Much of which has a lot to do with teachers feeling underprepared or unable to teach these courses because of social stigma and fear.
“One of the most significant findings based off the integration of quantitative and qualitative data was that there is a chasm in teacher education training, which is one of the leading causes for teacher concern, anxiety and fear,” Treacy said. “Health educators are not required to learn how to teach students with w88 sports betting app and special education teachers are not required to learn the content/knowledge regarding health and sexual health education.”
Due to this gap in knowledge and training, Treacy said w88 sports betting app with special needs are not able to access the content needed.
“Both health educators and special education teachers want what is best for their students, though neither feels prepared or confident to effectively teach students with w88 sports betting app sexual health education,” Treacy said.
This variability presented barriers and a clearer need for teachers to receive a foundation of how to teach sexual health education to students with w88 sports betting app along with a more clear knowledge of who is teaching it.
Current barriers to w88 sports betting app health education
The research indicates that there are seven leading barriers hindering access to sexual health education for people with w88 sports betting app.
- The sexuality of individuals with a disability is viewed as deviant vs. natural;
- Lack of teacher w88 sports betting app programs;
- Lack of teacher knowledge and confidence in teaching w88 sports betting app health education resulting in concern, anxiety and fear;
- Parental anxiety and fear;
- The need for school, teacher and parent partnerships;
- The lack of valid and reliable sexual health education for individuals with w88 sports betting app;
- The lack of federal funding specifically designed for students with w88 sports betting app based on comprehensive sexual health education.
“These barriers are daunting but not impossible,” Treacy said. “What we need is system change. In addition to teacher preparation, district leaders need to understand the issues regarding lack of access, how they can help overcome these barriers and where to find the proper resources to make the knowledge available to the families and w88 sports betting app with special needs.”
Available resources
In their research, Treacy and Taylor discuss the efforts to eliminate these barriers as essential.
“Students with w88 sports betting app need to be fully included in all cultural and societal conversations about sexual health,” Treacy said. “For example, research and resource development for LGBTQ+ students with w88 sports betting app are areas that need immediate attention.”
Taylor agrees and expressed how teacher w88 sports betting app programs could help eliminate at least two of the barriers.
“We need special education teachers to include sexual health education as part of the development of individual education plan and transition plan, which can include families in important discussions,” Taylor said. “The more we include sexual health education into the lives of students with w88 sports betting app we will start to eliminate the inherent bias that suggests deviance. While there are some resources available to support families and school personnel, there is very little research to guide resource development.”
Parent education and parent/school partnership can also aid in bridging individual learning gaps. Often, parents of children with w88 sports betting app are just as fearful about educating their children about sexual health and rely on schools to do the job. Experts recommend that parents overcome these fears and work with schools on sexual education, which will help support their child’s sexual health and discourage experimentation and socially inappropriate exploration. This team approach will also help identify areas of education that are missing and help make sexualhealth education more valid and reliable.
A call to action
As a sexual health educator, Treacy has seen first-hand how uncomfortable teachers can be in teaching sexual health education. This is often expounded when working with people with intellectual w88 sports betting app. While she recognizes sociological shifts take time, her goal is to continue advocating access to sexual health knowledge for students and individuals with w88 sports betting app.
“Children, students and adults with w88 sports betting app have the right to be educated about the natural functions of their bodies and their sexuality,” Treacy said. “In order to fully protect and understand themselves, they need and have the right to expect appropriate and timely sexual health education as part of their efforts to become self-determined individuals.”
