Table of Contents

Section 1: Contexts1.1: The Law 1.2: Race, culture, ethnicity and religion1.3: The environment and opportunities for relationships1.4: Syndromes, physical disability and medication1.5: Confidentiality 1.6: Guidelines, policies and care plans1.7: Staff supervision and safeguardsSection 2: Individual work2. 1: Why do individual work?2.2: Who should do the work? 2.3: The importance of trust 2.4: Outside help 2.5: Sensitivity to sexual lifestyles 2.6: Does the individual want to do the work? 2.7: Where should individual work take place? 2.8: Length and time 2.9: Communication2.10: The implications of talking about yourself2.11: Accepting the reality of people's lives 2.12: Skills required 2.13: Supervision 2.14: Limits 2.15: Evaluating individual workSection 3: Group work3.1: Possibilities and limits 3.2: Single-sex or mixed groups? 3.3: Facilitators and co-facilitators 3.4: Group size3.5: Practical arrangements3.6: Time span of groups 3.7: Finding group members 3.8: The abilities of group members 3.9: Confidentiality 3.10: Methods 3.11: Setting the agenda. 3.12: A suggested outline for a 14-week course Section 4: Issues4.1: General sex education 4.2: Appropriate and inappropriate masturbation4.3: How to masturbate 4.4: Menstruation 4.5: Menopause4.6: Sensitivity in relationships4.7: Assertiveness and saying no4.8: Consent 4.9: Sex between people of different abilities4.10: Men having sex with men4.11: Women having sex with women 4.12: Women wanting and having boyfriends 4.13: Women having sex with men4.14: Men wanting and having girlfriends4.15: Men having sex with women 4.16: People being sexually abused 4.17: Men with learning disabilities who sexually abuse 4.18: Sexual risk to children 4.19: Sexually transmitted diseases and safer sex 4.20: Men with learning disabilities having sex with men in public toilets 4.21: Sexual and reproductive health screening 4.22: Pornography and the internet4.23: Access to sex workers4.24: Reproduction 4.25: Contraception 4.26: Marriage and civil partnerships4.27: Forced marriage4.28: Domestic violence4.29: 'Mate' crime4.30: Parenting4.31: Abortion 4.32: Men with learning disabilities cross-dressing and other unconventional sexual behavioursSection 5: Notes on the pictures5.1: Considerations for using the pictures5.2: Description of each picture and ideas for use 5.3: Catalogue of pictures Section 6: Resources and organisationsResourcesOrganisations

About the Author

Michelle McCarthy has worked with people with learning disabilities throughout her career. She worked first in residential care, then trained as a social worker. Her work in the area of sexuality began with David Thompson, working on a specialist sex education service. Since 1993, she has worked at the Tizard Centre, University of Kent where she is a Reader in learning disabilities. Her academic and practice-based work involves all matters relating to sexuality, but she has a particular interest in working with women with learning disabilities on issues of sexual abuse, sexual and reproductive health and domestic violence. She has published widely in these fields. This includes a number of resource packs with Pavilion, but also books, academic and professional journals.David Thompson spent almost ten years working directly with people with learning disabilities on sexual issues. This experience informed the development of this package and his PhD. Since then he has had a variety of practice development roles including: support for family carers and people with learning disabilities as they age, advocacy and the Mental Capacity Act (2005). While turning 50 he trained to be a mental health nurse and then worked as the adult safeguarding nursing lead for Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust. During this time he was also vice chair of the Ann Craft Trust: a national charity to protect children and adults with learning disabilities at risk of abuse. He recently relocated to Australia with his civil partner.