Parents play a significant role in the daily lives of adults with developmental disabilities (DD) who rely on parents and other family members far longer than typically developing (TD) peers or siblings (Pownall et al., 2012). Parental duties include assisting their adult child in finding employment, acquiring daily living skills, and providing socialization opportunities. While TD adults in Western cultures tend to form social relationships without parental involvement, parents of adults with DD have much greater influence in facilitating, supporting, and/or controlling interpersonal relationships (Cheak-Zamora et al., 2015; Healy et al., 2009). Parents often determine their child with DD’s exposure to relationship experiences (Foley, 2012) and have influence over dating activities (Rushbrooke et al., 2014). Thus, many family members (and/or staff) may become gatekeepers to knowledge and opportunities related to intimate and sexual relationships for adults with DD (de Wit, 2022).
Whether directly or indirectly, parents of individuals with DD are the most consistent and influential source of information about interpersonal and intimate relationships for their children. Due to many factors, individuals with DD rely less on peers and teachers, and more on parents and caregivers for information related to sexuality (Pugliese et al., 2019).
Abstract
People with developmental disabilities (DD) lack access to many aspects of sexuality education and often experience restrictions in romantic relationships. One factor contributing to this lack of access includes parents feeling uncomfortable providing appropriate sexuality education to their children with DD despite being the primary source of this information. To better understand what supports are available to parents, the current thematic review explored the existing literature on sexuality education for individuals with DD that explicitly includes parent involvement. Resulting literature was thematically clustered into four categories (a) parent opinion on curriculum/program content or delivery; (b) parent participation as a training recipient; (c) parent feedback and post-implementation outcomes, and (d) recommendations from program developers on how to better utilize parents. Current literature highlights how parents can have a meaningful role in the development of sexuality programs, and how individuals with DD can greatly benefit from programs that include parent involvement.