Sexual Health

Sexual Health- Pelvic Exams

/ sarahlcurtiss

Many women with development disabilities are under anesthesia during pelvic exams or don’t get them at all (or as recommended).  However, educating about pelvic exams may be an important part of teaching sexual health.  I’ve included the link to a video that may help.

This is a brief video that goes through the basic procedure of a woman having a pelvic exam.  This could also be a good video for teaching about female anatomy.  It has a lot of technical terminology but it also moves nice and slow.

Human Sexuality Week 7- Hygiene

/ sarahlcurtiss / 1 Comment

Hygiene is not on the SEICUS guidelines for what to teach in a human sexuality class, but we find that it can be a hard topic for students.  It also is strongly connected to puberty because it is during puberty that hygiene needs change at the same time young people have more autonomy and responsibility for their hygiene.  We tackled hygiene with a series of activities we called hygiene Olympics.  In small groups, students moved throughout the stations to practice and contemplate hygiene tasks.

  • Hand washing: Students rubbed glitter mixed with lotion on their hands and then had to wash their hands until the glitter came off.  This will helped students to recognize that hand washing is more than just rinsing hands lightly with water.
  • Body washing: We will had life-size body outlines, loofas, and paint.  Students used the paint like it was soap.  This helped students recognize the importance of washing their entire body.
  • Laundry: Students saw a pile of laundry.  They then sorted the clean from the dirty clothing (the dirty clothing are just tee shirts that have been dampened and wrinkled).  The helped students identify clean clothing.
  • Shaving: Students used an orange to practice shaving with a razor and shaving cream.  The teacher in the group explained that boys often shave their face and that girls often shave their legs and underarms. Students had an opportunity to practice shaving. 
  • Deodorant testing: We had several deodorants with the brands blocked out.  Students smelled and voted on their favorite scent.  At this station, teachers  pointed out the importance of wearing deodorant each day and reapplying after activities that cause sweat.  This station emphasized the importance of deodorant use. 
  • My Hygiene Routine: Students saw pictures of different hygiene tasks.  They also had a worksheet that said “My Hygiene Routine.” Students chose what order they would prefer to complete the hygiene tasks.  This activity provided students with control and choice while also committing them to completing the necessary tasks.

Materials for this week

Menstruation Plan

/ sarahlcurtiss

In preparing for the puberty section of Human Sexuality 101 I was looking at research on methods for teaching young girls with ASD about menstruation and came across an article using Social Stories (only a preview of the article is available for free).

In short, here’s the Four P Plan for Period Support

1.  Prepare a period kit

2.  Preinstruct (perhaps using social stories)

3.  Practice

4.  Plan for pain relief

Klett & Turan used a combination of three Social Stories adapted from Mary Warbol’s “Taking Care of Myself: A Hygiene, Puberty, and Personal Curriculum for Young People with Autism” (this book is not just for girls).  They implemented the social stories before menarche (first period) and then planed to revisit them after menses began. These stories focused on growing up, what a period is, and how to take care of a period (I would reprint them but you have to be careful about Social Stories and their copy rights). They also used simulations with the girls using red syrup so they could practice changing a “used” menstrual pad.  They reviewed the social stories over several days and completed simulations over several days.  They also used different types of menstrual pads in case the girls did not always have access to the same type.  They also asked the children questions about menstruation to check for comprehension (such as “What is the blood from your vagina called?” and “Do you need to wear a pad when you don’t have your period?”).  This method proved effective in these case studies and the parents who implemented the plans where happy with it.

ImageI have a good friend who made a menstrual kit for his daughter to start keeping in her book bag around age 11.  In a zip lock bag he placed a change of underwear, menstrual pads, Tylenol, a change of shorts, and bathroom wipes. That way, if her first period was at school, she had everything she needed and wouldn’t need to ask for support unless she wanted to. I personally think this is a wonderful idea and wish my mom had thought of it when I was middle school!  This idea has caught on because you can buy premade kits. Also, they make underwear that help keep menstrual pads in place.

I have heard that some families also preemptively use pain relief to support with discomfort and PMS.  Not all girls associate the physical discomfort with their period or are able to communicate “I feel bloated” or “I have cramps.” Although these are phrases that you can teach and prompt, some families just start using an over the counter painkiller two or three days before they anticipate the start of the period.  This isn’t foolproof because, especially when girls first start getting their period, they may have irregular cycles.