Sexuality Education and Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities: Assessment, Policy, and Advocacy

People with disabilities are sexual beings who, like all of us, benefit from sexuality education that examines relationship skills and knowledge, attitudes, behaviors, and values that promote healthy sexuality within those relationships. This article provides an overview of landmark policies relevant to persons with disabilities, defines the strengths perspective in the context of curriculum development, and describes a survey built on this perspective that evaluates sexuality education curricula on the strengths rather than the deficits of people.