Calls from the Canberra community for more comprehensive and disability-specific sex-education support have been answered.
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Sexual Health and Family Planning ACT has launched a series of summer workshops for parents, mainstream and special-needs youth which delve into more than just pimples and puberty.
In an effort to tackle a "knowledge gap" created by a long-standing focus on physical development, the courses tackle concepts such as resilience, sexuality, body image, cyber safety, consent and respectful relationships, SHFPACT professional and community education officer Erin Smith said.
"This whole program has been in response to what parents, carers and teachers have inquired about to see whether such programs exist," she said.
"It's to complement and to fill some of the knowledge gaps or provide additional information that might have been skirted around, or not necessarily covered in the school program."
Practical advice to support a child's personal development and sexuality in a positive way is pertinent to all; however Ms Smith said great consideration had been put into developing courses that met the needs of children with intellectual disability and their parents.
"The intersection of sexuality and disability is a challenging one," she said.
While much of the content covered was the same, she said the disability inclusion courses tapped into teaching methodologies such as kinaesthetic learning, pictographs and visual teaching aids to convey topics effectively.
Canberra mum Sharon's eight-year-old boy is on the autism spectrum and her seven-year-old daughter has complex medical and behavioural needs.
Her experience has been that making learning about social safety, personal development and sexuality meaningful was often relegated to the "too-hard basket".
In contrast to a fear sex education exposed children to adult ideas, she said it was a vital safeguard for her kids as it enabled them to express and respect personal boundaries.
"People just assume people with disabilities don't have a sexuality or sexual needs despite the fact we all go through the same experience with hormones," she said.
"I can't assume if it is given in a mainstream format they will be able to understand it. Having it delivered in a way that is appropriate and accessible is so important."
Celebrated disability advocate Jarrod McGrath said as a younger sibling of a person with a disability he was passionate about ensuring there were provisions for disability-specific sexual and cyber-safety education.
"This education needs to have explicit teaching of topics related to sexual relationships to ensure people with disabilities are able to make informed decisions," he said.
"It can be a sensitive topic for many people and some parents/carers may choose to avoid it. But from my experience some people with disabilities will be curious about, and experience, sexual encounters and there is a need to educate them on such experiences."