Dealing with the subject of sexuality in the population of older students (ages 12-21) with intellectual disabilities complex and sensitive. It is complex because of the characteristics of the disorder: research studies indicate that intellectual disabilities adults have little knowledge and little experience in the sexual domain. Furthermore, there are factors that inhibit normal psychosexual development. It is sensitive for the intellectual disabilities older person since this population is prone to sexual exploitation and for the professionals since teaching the subject in class presents a difficulty for the multidisciplinary team and causes embarrassment when it is discussed publicly, even more so when it is necessary to teach it to a population of retarded students and especially in religious schools. Hence, because of the complexity and sensitivity of the subject, the construction of a curriculum is challenging, and success constitutes a chance to deal with the topic in the education system. The construction and implementation of such a curriculum have been undertaken for years in the “Shalom” Experimental State Religious School for intellectual disabilities older students. The present research study followed the work of the multidisciplinary professional team in the process of the curriculum construction. The main finding of the research shows that the chance to succeed in the implementation of the curriculum depends on the change of attitudes of the professionals. The research is an ethnographic case study. The data collection included 29 interviews, 92 observations in sexual-social education lessons, recording of lessons on the social sexual topic in classes, and documentation of 40 meetings of the professional multidisciplinary team on this topic. The research process, findings, and complexity will be presented.

Author: Michal Schreiber-Divon

• Date of Conference: 4-6 November 2024
• DOI: 10.20533/WCSNE.2024.0014
• ISBN: 978-1-913572-75-4
• Conference Location: St Anne’s College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK