Sexuality and Disability

, Volume 34, Issue 3, pp 269–288 | Cite as

A Sexuality and Relationship Training Program for Women with Intellectual Disabilities: A Social Story Approach

Original Paper
First Online:

Abstract

A multi-method study design involving three different phases was used to develop four social stories that could be used as part of a sexuality and relationship training program for women with intellectual disabilities. Phase 1 entailed a systematic review of the literature and results indicate that social stories provide a suitable methodology for teaching socially desirable responses related to sexuality and relationships. Phase 2 entailed a focus group with women with intellectual disabilities and results showed that they wanted more information about different types of relationships, including romantic relationships. They also wanted to understand what types of behavior (e.g. different types of greetings) were appropriate for the different types of relationships. Next, four social stories were written based on the results of these two phases. Finally, these four social stories were implemented in Phase 3 with ten caregivers of women with intellectual disabilities in order to evaluate the appropriateness of the stories. Results showed that three of the four social stories were appropriate, and that one required re-writing as it was not appropriate for the specific context, as women at that facility did not have the opportunity to go on dates. A suggestion was made that the story be re-written to reflect romantic relationships as opposed to dating.

Keywords

Caregivers Intellectual disability Relationship Social stories Women South Africa 
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Notes

Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the substantive technical assistance of Liza Rosetti-Siefe.

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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC), Communication Pathology BuildingUniversity of PretoriaPretoriaSouth Africa

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