Perceptions of the Sexuality Needs of Students Labeled As Having Learning Disabilities, Mental Retardation, and No Disabilities by Special Education Personnel As Influenced by a Graduate Course on the Sexuality of Persons with Disabilities

Authors

  • R. Bruce Baum
  • Patrick Schloss
  • Linda Malinowski
  • Heidi Hennessey

Abstract

This investigation examinedjudgments to three randomly assigned scenarios by students who had completed a graduate course on the sexuality ofpersons with disabilities compared to students who had not completed such a course. Scenarios and a related questionnaire concerned sexuality issues and needs and varied only in the diagnosis assigned to the individual presented in the scenario: learning disabled, mentally retarded, or typical. Respondents were, in general, realistic regarding the sexuality of individuals with disabilities. Those who had not completed the sexuality course had responses that werejudged to be more conservative and less realistic than those who had taken the course on specific issues such as supervision to prevent the individual from abusing others, the need for behavior modification to change socia-sexual behaviors, and the judgment of typical sexual behaviors as homosexual.

Issue

Section

Articles