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Every body needs to know
Special education project
Opportunity for Queensland schools to access student education sessions and teacher professional development. FPQ will work with you to develop a package that is flexible and responsive to the specific needs of your students and their families as well as teaching staff. Find out how your school can support the sexuality and relationships education needs of students with a disability.
Creating Conversations is a free program designed to support families with children and young people with a disability in the Central Queensland region. You will learn what to expect as your child develops and what supports healthy sexual behaviours and relationships. To find out more see the Creating Conversations page.
Disability resources
View the Disability resources flyer
Every
body needs to know A
highly acclaimed sexuality and relationships education resource
for teaching people with a disability. Topics covered include: bodies,
puberty, periods, relationships, sexual relationships, pregnancy information,
feeling good, being safe and sexual health checks. Now packaged in a
lightweight and smaller carry case, containing a CD and boxed picture
cards. The kit offers tips for teaching sexuality and relationships
with children, young people and adults with a variety of disabilities
including intellectual, sensory, physical and those on the autism spectrum.
Free activity books Designed to enable parents, carers and professionals to support sexuality and relationships education for people with a disability. Includes activities, worksheets and picture cards to discuss topics such as bodies, public and private, puberty and decisions about sexual relationships. Worksheets and picture cards are at the end of each activity book.
Feel
Safe CD Promotes personal safety for young people with learning
needs through the stories of six young people aged 12-16 years.
The CD reinforces personal safety information on: types of
touch, rules about touch, feelings, who to talk to if you need help,
male and female body parts, wanted and unwanted touch and body warning
signs through interactive games.
Everyone’s got a bottom A colourful storybook for parents and carers that helps gently start conversations about personal safety with children aged 3 to 8. Winner of the 2007 Child Protection Week Award for an Education Initiative. More than 20,000 copies sold.
I have the right to be safe A booklet for children and Feel Safe – promoting self protection factsheet for parents and carers are free to download. They offer important information to help teach and learn personal safety skills.
Safe Relationships Safer Sex A
freely downloadable brochure for people with a learning difficulty or disability.
It supports conversations about saying yes or no to sexual activity as well
as being safe and happy.
Contraception A free brochure that describes the most common forms of contraception and uses pictures to help explain how they are used.
About Periods brochure for young women and women with a disability explains what a period is, how often they occur and provides a step by step visual guide to changing a pad or tampon. The About Periods factsheet for parents and carers is a useful addition for those wishing to explore having this conversation with a young woman or woman with a disability. Both can be downloaded from the FPQ website
Traffic Lights DVD Provides a guide for professionals to identify, assess and respond to sexual behaviours in school settings. It uses a case study of a young person with a disability to explore staff and carer responses to sexual behaviours. Sexuality and relationships education strategies are also provided.
FPQ's Teacher Resource Centre is an online portal packed with information to help teachers prepare for and implement sexuality and relationships education (SRE) programs in their school. The site includes easily accessible lesson plan ideas, research to support SRE, curriculum links, activities, short videos of teachers and students taking part in SRE lessons and more. Some lessons have been developed for students with a disability. The site was revamped in 2012.
Disability Services
FPQ offers workshops and training to support parents, carers and professionals in learning strategies to talk about sexuality and relationships with children, young people and adults with a disability. Group programs are available for people with a disability and FPQ also offers a consultation service to schools and organisations to support positive responses to sexuality and relationships and sexual behaviours for children, young people and adults with a disability.
Services for:
Visit our training calendar to see what’s on. FPQ can provide nationally recognised or customised training tailored to your organisation's needs. Contact us for more information.
View the Disability services flyer
Sexuality, relationships and disability
Family Planning Queensland (FPQ) advocates that people with a disability must be acknowledged as sexual beings, and have access to information and resources to support informed choices about relationships and sexual and reproductive health. It is essential that people with a disability be supported to make choices and decisions that offer the least restrictive alternative to their health and lifestyle.
View FPQ’s full position statement on sexuality and disability
Talking about sexuality and relationships
Parents, carers and key professionals such as teachers and support workers are often best placed to provide sexuality and relationships education (SRE) to people with a disability.
Learning about sexuality is a life-long process, and as a parent, carer or professional, teaching sexuality is an ongoing conversation and not just a ‘one-off’ talk about ‘the facts’. Research1 suggests people with a disability benefit and learn more from sexuality information that is repeated and reinforced in the home, school and in support services.
One of the best ways to provide SRE is to share small amounts of clear, correct and positive information. It is best for this information to come from the adults in the person’s life that they know and trust. As a parent, carer or professional, you may be the person in the best position to provide assistance and respond to the needs and questions that a child, young person or adult has.
Most parents, carers and professionals recognise the importance of children, young people and adults with a disability having accurate, age-appropriate SRE. The important thing to remember is that it is never too early or too late to start talking about sexuality.
FPQ encourages and supports parents, carers and professionals to work together to promote healthy attitudes and communication of sexuality issues.
1. Ballan, M. (2001). Parents as sexuality educators for their children with developmental disabilities. Siecus report, 29(3), 14-19.