Sexuality and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities: a behaviour analytic exploration of issues

Abstract

The topic of sexuality becomes increasingly important as young children with intellectual and developmental disability (IDD) grow into teenagers and adults. However, sexuality is best understood as a whole life developmental process. It does not start or stop at a certain age and therefore, even service providers who work with young children, clinicians, teachers, and parents need to be well educated in this domain. This thesis starts with an overview and exploration of issues related to sexuality, sexuality education, and sexual behaviour as they relate to individuals with IDD. It includes an exploration of the ethics and a rapid literature review explores evidence-based interventions related to sexuality education. The thesis then reports on a survey that identified the issues that are important to parents and professionals. These included (1) the need for effective and efficient parent and professional training; (2) the need for effective procedures to enhance behavioural safety by developing appropriate skills in individuals with profound intellectual and developmental disabilities (IQ<40), and (3) to explore the effect of puberty (e.g., menstruation) on challenging behaviour. The remainder of the thesis reports on studies that were conducted to explore these issues; (1) the outcomes of a brief parent and professional training programme; (2) the effectiveness of behaviour analytic interventions in relation to sexual behaviour safety issues and, finally, (3) an analysis of the impact of physiological variables on reinforcer effectiveness and how this knowledge can be used in behavioural interventions to support young people with IDD.

Date of Award	Dec 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Queen's University Belfast
Supervisor	Karola Dillenburger (Supervisor) & Nichola Booth (Supervisor)