Navigating developmental stages, education, and sex education can be extremely difficult. The Birds & The Bees team put together a parent tip sheet that offers basic information and resources for parents of autistic children. View the tip sheets in the slide show and download below.
Parenting
Guest Room
Guest Room is a short film Written & Directed by Joshua Tate and starring Lauren Potter (“Glee”) and Michael Iovine. It won the Audience Award (Competition Short) at SXSW 2015.
I think you are going to love this movie. It’s beautiful, emotional, and honest. I could easily see this being used in a human sexuality classroom to help discuss parenting, consent, and support from families. It follows the story of a young couple who are faced in a situation many young couples find themselves in, an unexpected pregnancy. Like many young couples, the response of their families is shock and disappointment and this makes it difficult to determine their own feelings, hopes, and wants.
There was one statistic that was mentioned in the film that I had not heard before. It said that a women with Down Syndrome has a 50% chance of having a child with Down Syndrome. I did a little digging to see if I could find out more and received some help from The Tech Geneticist a project from the University of Stanford which seeks to increase the public understanding of genetics. About half of the eggs of a women with Down Syndrome will have an extra 21st chromosome (similar to what is described in this post http://genetics.thetech.org/ask/ask296). Her actual chance of having a child with Down Syndrome is less than 50% because fetuses with extra 21st chromosomes are at increased risk of complications. According to the National Down Syndrome Society only about 50% of women with Down Syndrome are fertile (ovulate).
It’s trickier when it comes to thinking about the father. Much less is known about the heritability (chance of passing a genetic trait on) of Down Syndrome for men with Down Syndrome, but it may be that their sperm that carry two 21st chromosomes would be less viable than their sperm that only have one. Both the Tech Geneticist and the National Down Syndrome Society suggested men with Down Syndrome seem to have much lower fertility rates than their same age peers with two 21st chromosomes.
Human Sexuality 101- Reproduction
My favorite comment from this session was, “Can we stop working on the worksheet for a minute? I just really want to listen!” We based the lesson the Nova’s “Life’s Greatest Miracle” (you can stream for free or buy the DVD for $20). We covered the material in one session but didn’t have time for the breakout groups and we went over our allotted time. We could have easily split it up into two sessions. The video is very well done and contains a lot of good information. We had the students fill out a worksheet to help them key into important points and break down euphemisms. It’s amazing how much they are learning but also what is slipping by. For example, as we’re watching the sperm and the egg meet I asked, “Is this happening inside the man’s body or inside the woman’s body?” and they didn’t really have any idea.
For the parent component of the session, we manly focused on two questions. 1) What do you think about preemptive birth control? and 2) What are your hopes and fears about your child becoming a parent in the future. Unfortunately, these are some of those questions without any easy answers.
Download the materials…
Teaching Videos
There are many videos out there that are excellent for instruction and also for expanding your personal understanding of sexuality topics. I have a few on my resource list but wanted review a couple that are available. Click on the link to be taken to the page where it can be purchased. I’ve included previews and prices (you can get the videos cheaper for personal use- these are the instructional prices).
Is Love Enough? Is a documentary about parenting with disabilities. It’s $195.00
Monica and David is a documentary about a couple with Down Syndrome. $200 (but sometimes is on sale for $100).
The Kiss is a 52 second video featuring two actors with Down Syndrome. It is short and poignant.
Bumblebees is a short video made by an individual with autism following his first date.
Bumblebees from Jenna Kanell on Vimeo.
Despite being told as a child he would never speak or walk, Vance accomplished what doctors thought was impossible. But now he has a new challenge: dating.
Made for the 48 Hour Disability Film Challenge.
Prerequisites:
Genre – Romantic Comedy
Setting – Living room / park
Elements – Comb / balloon
Theme – A reunion
When I see “Sexuality and the Arts” on the SIECUS topics list, I admit, I can get a little overwhelmed with trying to explore this topic in a way that is relevant to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. But I think the Sprout Movie festival is a great place to start. Here is one of their Poetic Shorts, “How do I know?”
The Birds and The Bees 