This assignment will analyse critically key ethical, attitudinal, political issues and historical development of sexuality in relation to people with learning disabilities and services. This assignment will explore Task B, which is based on a young man w

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EDUC: 313882: Ethics and Politics of learning disability

Introduction

This assignment will analyse critically key ethical, attitudinal, political issues and historical development of sexuality in relation to people with learning disabilities and services.  This assignment will explore Task B, which is based on a young man with learning difficulties experience of sexual education or rather lack of sexual education at his school. The young man called Simon experienced exclusion from sexual education, his headmaster advised other pupils to speak to him about anything they were unsure of regarding sexual health; however when Simon approached him to discuss sexual health he advised him to speak to his support teacher called Mrs Hewitt. Mrs Hewitt advised him that he did not need the knowledge of condoms, Simon, who is gay wanted to speak to Mrs Hewitt about his sexuality who inadvisably replied he could not be gay “because it wasn’t nice” (Carson, 2002; P207).  In relation to task B this assignment will look at the headmaster Mr Bentley and Simon’s support teacher Mrs Hewitt’s approach to working with Simon. It will also look at ethical implication of Mrs Hewitt’s advice to Simon. The assignment will conclude by exploring philosophical and policy changes that is needed in mainstream schools to ensure that young people like Simon had a more inclusive experience of sexual education.

Historical issues of sexuality

Mr Bentley and Mrs Hewitt have decided not to provide Simon with adequate sex education regarding his sexuality and sexual health. This approach they have taken can be due to many historical factors and issues about the way society views sexuality of individual with leaning difficulties.  Historically Society viewed individuals with learning difficulties as incomplete adults and literature review shows historically, people with learning difficulties’s sexualities have been neglected (Gougeon, 2009). In Between 1880 to 1940 the eugenic movement led to mass sterilization and segregation of many vulnerable individuals in particular individuals with learning difficulties from the society (Greenspan, 2002).  It could be argued that the eugenic movement was triggered by   Jukes (1875) and Kallikaks (1912) study viewed people with learning disabilities and other sub groups to be linked to criminality (Lombardo, 2008). However according to Karellou (2007) Sterilisation is still common practice for women learning difficulties, in Canada as well as in many other developed countries (Karellou 2007).   Historically society’s views of individuals with learning disabilities were based on negative stereotypes, during the 19th century it was believed individuals with learning disabilities  reproduced more rapidly compared to the rest of the society, the state feared rapid reproduction would overwhelm the population, therefore official checks needed to be placed to control this( Kempton and Kahn 1991).  The governmental solution was to improve the human race by selective breeding and by enforcing eugenics; people with learning difficulties as well as other Vulnerable groups such a people with mental illness, young unmarried mothers were forcefully castrated or ovariectomiesed (Howard and Hendy, 2004)).  During 1940s little progress was made in relation to sexual education. Individuals with learning disabilities and other vulnerable groups were still institutionalised; intuitions kept men and women separate to stop sexual activities (Kempton and Kahn 1991).  For those individual who were hidden away in parental home was viewed to be eternally innocent or sexless, they were seen to be “forever children” (Gougeon, 2009). This view has not changed to this date, looking at Simon’s scenario there is clear indication that people with learning difficulties are still seen incapable of being a sexual being.  Therefore perhaps the reason why Mr Bentley and Mrs Hewitt have denied Simon the change to learn about sexuality is due to the fact they still hold this view of people with learning difficulties being Asexual and not needing sexual education as it doesn’t concern them. Also institutional discrimination and separation is still present at Simon’s school due to the schools reluctance to provide him with same level of support as others.

In relation to Simon being homosexual, historically speaking the gay and the lesbian community suffered prejudice and discrimination and public attitude to homosexuality was very negative and during the eugenic movement individuals who practiced homosexual behaviour would have been ill treated and labelled as delinquents in the society just like individuals with learning difficulties ( Herek, 2007)  . For Simon to be gay and have learning disabilities I believe it provides him with double negative labelling. Until early 1970’s the medical model of disability would have viewed homosexuality as mental an illness (Mail, 2002). Homosexuality was originally classified as a mental illness in the American Psychiatric Association the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (Sullivan, 2004).  In relation to Mrs Hewitt’s attitude to Homosexuality, there is clear distinctive homophobic language in her advice to Simon. Looking at historical attitudes towards homosexuality, it is clear that often homophobia is often driven from individual’s religious or cultural background (Adamczyk, 2009). Unfortunately the scenario does not state Mrs Hewitt’s background so we cannot make a clear judgment on her attitude, however we could say the approach she used with Simon in relation to his homosexuality could be due to personal attitude to homosexuality (Fish, 2009), and to clarify Mrs. Hewitt insisted Simon could not be gay because it wasn’t “nice”.  Homophobia   is greatly experienced by people with learning difficulties, Abbott and Howarth (2007) found many individuals with learning difficulties faced emotional and physical abuse due to their sexuality. Historically homophobia has also been major issue in the gay community, although reflecting on the literature compared to 50, 60s, 70s and so on homophobic bullying is not overt as it use to be (Mail, 2002).  Abbott and Howarth (2007) identified  that issue of sexuality specially homosexuality were not introduced to groups in care environment, the authors state this could be due to lack of educational training given to staff concerning these issues. Perhaps Mrs. Hewitt and Mr. Bentley do not have right training to provide such intimate discussion.

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During the 1950s, real progress on sexual education for individuals with learning difficulties was made.  Group of parents from the United States formed “association for retarded children (ARC) in 1950s, they lobbied the government for funding, parental education and professionals training programme and for the first time special education classes in mainstream schools (Kempton and Kahn 1991).  

However, looking at Simon’s experience of sex education in school, it seems that sex education in mainstream school for children and young people with learning disabilities has not really been embraced by schools. But perhaps this is to do with other social ...

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