Julia Bahner
Associate professor
Cripping sex education: lessons learned from a programme aimed at young people with mobility impairments
Author
Summary, in English
This paper analyses sexuality and relationship education (SRE) in a Swedish college programme aimed at young people with mobility impairments. Interviews and focus groups were conducted to explore students’ experiences of the structure, content and usefulness of SRE, and college personnel’s SRE practices. Results show that, although many of the issues covered are pertinent for all young people, being disabled raises additional concerns: for example how to handle de-sexualising attitudes, possible sexual practices, and how reliance on assistance impacts upon privacy. Crip theory is used as an analytical framework to identify, challenge and politicise sexual norms and practices. Students’ experiences of living in a disablist, heteronormative society can be used as resources for developing cripistemologies, which challenge the private/public binary that often de-legitimises learners’ experiences and separates them from teachers’ ‘proper’ knowledge production. Crip SRE would likely hold benefits for non-disabled pupils as well, through its use of more inclusive pedagogy and in work to expand sexual possibilities. Crip SRE has the potential to disrupt taken-for-granted dis/ability and sexuality divides as well as to politicise issues that many young people presently experience as ‘personal shortcomings’.
Department/s
- Social Vulnerability and Inequality
- Child, Youth and Family
Publishing year
2018-11-02
Language
English
Pages
640-654
Publication/Series
Sex Education
Volume
18
Issue
6
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Topic
- Social Work
- Pedagogical Work
- Gender Studies
- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Keywords
- crip theory
- disability
- Sexuality
- special education
- Sweden
- young disabled people
- Disability
- Funktionshinder
- Sex- och samlevnadsundervisning
Status
Published
Project
- Normer kring sex- och samlevnadsundervisning på riksgymnasium
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1468-1811