Abstract:

Sexuality of persons with disabilities is a topic that is seldom discussed in wider society. People often have conflicting opinions on it, ranging from accepting it without restrictions to rejecting it. An indisputable fact is, however, that persons with health disabilities experience their sexuality in a similar way as able-bodied people. The society should therefore be sensitive to its fulfilment and approach the problem sympathetically.

This paper deals with the issue of the sexuality in young people with intellectual disabilities. These people, due to reduced intellectual abilities, often behave inappropriately with respect to their sexuality. The early onset of sexual life, pregnancies of girls at immature age or their sexual abuse by adult members in marginalised communities cause deviations in their future partner relationships or might lead to their deviant sexual behaviour such as prostitution or promiscuity. It is therefore necessary to learn how the people with intellectual disabilities perceive their sexuality so that it can be guided in a positive direction.

The paper presents results of a survey conducted in 2022-2023 in the territory of eastern Slovakia. The survey was implemented through an author's questionnaire distributed among pupils with intellectual disabilities and semi-structured interviews with teachers. The questionnaire surveyed the attitudes towards sexuality and sexual behaviour among special vocational school students with mild intellectual disabilities. Utilising semi-structured interviews, we sought to find out the views and attitudes of the teaching staff towards the teaching of sex education in the above type of school. The survey results indicate that the area of sexual behaviour and boy-girl relationships is lacking proper prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and unwanted pregnancies. The students have poor knowledge in the domain of protecting their own health and preventing STDs, and many students do not know which doctor they would see if necessary. The data from the semi-structured interview conducted with the teachers showed their perceived need to allocate more time to teaching about sexuality, sexual behaviour to their pupils in any form; they would even favour a separate subject of sex education.

The survey results also served as a point of departure in the authors’ quest for more effective sex education of pupils from special primary schools and students from special vocational schools. Identification of the attitudes held by both groups of interviewees was instrumental for the authors in developing their intervention program of sex education accepting the specifics of young people with intellectual disabilities.

Keywords:

Sexuality, sex education, partner relationships, vocational education, intellectual disability.