Review of Curricular Features of Socio-sexuality Curricula for Individuals with Developmental Disabilities

The need for socio-sexuality education for individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) is widely acknowledged. However, there are relatively few socio-sexuality education curricula developed for individuals with DD. Additionally, there are fewer still evaluations of these curriculum. While the content contained in the curriculum is critically important, other features add to the practicality and feasibility of curriculum use by educators, parents, and other service personnel. This review evaluated the quality of curricular features found in comprehensive, commercially available socio-sexuality curriculum for individuals with DD. Results indicated that most curricula were user-friendly, medically accurate, age-appropriate, included reference aids, and had representation of culturally diverse populations; however, features related to staff training, parent involvement, theoretical integration of methods, and assessment were less frequently present. The importance of considering aspects of curricular features when adopting a socio-sexuality curriculum and future directions are discussed.