Date of Award

Spring 5-20-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

MA - Master of Arts

Department

Expressive Therapies

Advisor

Wendy Allen

Abstract

Abstract

Sexual education is often a topic that gets neglected when it comes to the general public. Schools lack thorough curriculums, often approaching the subject from a fear-based perspective of pushing abstinence only, as opposed to teaching about healthy and safer sexuality. One can imagine, then, the disparity in education among disabled populations. In this thesis, I create and enact a method to educate intellectually and developmentally disabled adults on topics relating to sexual education in an embodied way. This thesis takes into account the current research on dance/movement therapy, intellectual and developmental disabilities, and sexual and somatic psychotherapy to develop a method of creating sexual education workshops. The topics come from the current literature as well as directly from individuals who were to be participants. The topics include consent, boundaries, healthy relationships, and safer sex and dating. Each workshop consisted of psychoeducation, discussion, an embodied activity, and an art-based reflection. Reflections from the writer are included in the discussion.

Accessible Abstract

There is a lot of missing information when schools teach sexual education, especially for disabled people. Disabled adults deserve learning about and having sex if they want to. In this paper, I talk about creating workshops that teach sexual education to disabled adults. These workshops include activities that have to do with feelings in one’s body. The topics of the workshops are consent, boundaries, healthy relationships, and safer sex and dating.

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Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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