The Sexual Knowledge,Experience,Feelings and Needs of People with Mild Intellectual Disability

Abstract

This study concerns an evaluation of the sexual knowledge, experience, feelings and needs of people with mild intellectual disability. Thirty people (18 females, 12 males) with mild intellectual disability who were living in community houses and a contrast group of 50 first year psychology students (32 females, 18 males) agreed to participate. Parallel forms of the guided interview measure 'Sexual knowledge, experience and needs scale' were used to assess the sexuality of both groups. The results indicated that people with intellectual disability had lower levels of knowledge in all areas except menstruation and body part identification. They were also less experienced in the areas of intimacy and sexual intercourse, but had a higher experience of pregnancy, masturbation and sexually transmitted diseases. There were no differences between the two groups in the experience of sexual abuse. There were generally more negative feelings in relation to sexual issues among people with intellectual disability. The implications of these findings for sex education programs for people with intellectual disability are discussed.