Chastity Education for Autistic Teenagers

[Cathy_McClarey]

The 7th grade CCD class in my parish is required to see the film “Sex Has a Pricetag” in the spring. I believe that this film will be way over the head of my 7th grade autistic son (he’s turning 13 in September), and will go way beyond anything he needs to know yet. I have found a “hygeine and puberty” curriculum especially written for autistic children and teenagers (“Taking Care of Myself”, by Mary Wrobel), and most of it is just what my son needs; however, there is a section towards the back of the book on masturbation which is presented from a very secular point of view (and therefore we will not be using that part of the book). Is there anything out there which presents the Church’s teaching on sexuality (and especially on masturbation) for special-needs teenagers? Even something written for mentally-retarded young people (which my son is not) would be helpful, as it would probably be more succinct and simply written than similar materials written for “normal” teenagers. Thanks for your help!

 

[Mary_s_Lamb]

Cathy,

You’ve hit the nail on the head! There is definitely a need for chastity education for children with special needs.

I have a 14 yr old son with Asperger’s. Intellectually, he can handle the information, emotionally he’s very immature. But now that he’s in puberty his body is changing. So ready or not he needs it.

What I did was contact Generation Life. They are a prolife group that does chastity education presentations to teens. One of the coordinators there Mark Houck was especially interested in working with special needs children.

First he and his partner Molly Kelly met with the parents. We expressed our concerns with them and shared the children’s needs and learning styles. Then on Aug 5th they gave a tailored presentation just for our kids.

It was done in a small group since most of the children cannot handle the stimulation of large groups. And parents attended with them, so if any questions come up at home, the parents know what the child was taught.

I know that Mark has past experience in working with children with special needs. He feels that this is a population that is underserved with Chastity education. And he’s interested in expanding into this area.

He’s already traveled as far as Canada to give Chastity talks to “normal” kids. So it’s possible that he’d be willing to travel to your area.

Generation Life is located at 88 E. Pennsylvania Ave., Oreland, Pa. 19075. The phone number is: 215-885-8760. Mark’s email address is: mhouck@generationlife.org.

I would encourage anyone reading this post to contact them.
God Bless.
Mary

 

[Tom]

Cathy McClarey:

The 7th grade CCD class in my parish is required to see the film “Sex Has a Pricetag” in the spring. I believe that this film will be way over the head of my 7th grade autistic son (he’s turning 13 in September), and will go way beyond anything he needs to know yet. I have found a “hygeine and puberty” curriculum especially written for autistic children and teenagers (“Taking Care of Myself”, by Mary Wrobel), and most of it is just what my son needs; however, there is a section towards the back of the book on masturbation which is presented from a very secular point of view (and therefore we will not be using that part of the book). Is there anything out there which presents the Church’s teaching on sexuality (and especially on masturbation) for special-needs teenagers? Even something written for mentally-retarded young people (which my son is not) would be helpful, as it would probably be more succinct and simply written than similar materials written for “normal” teenagers. Thanks for your help!

If it’s the same film I saw several years ago it won’t be too much. I recommend you preview it for content. If it is the same one it’s a wonderful presentation.

 

[AndyG]

Mary’s Lamb. I too have a child with Aspergers. He’s only seven though, but it sounds like the right kind of approach for him. Thanks for the (name removed by moderator)ut.

 

[Mary_s_Lamb]

Andy,

You’re welcome. Also I just remembered that Mark had a video tape made of the presentation. So this may be another option for you.
Mary

 

[Cathy_McClarey]

Mary,

I’ll share that information you provided with my husband. I suspect the video may be more workable for us than a live presentation, since we live in a small town in downstate Illinois, and there just aren’t that many autistic kids in town (especially not autistic Catholic teenagers).
It hadn’t occurred to me to consider a video presentation on the subject (I guess I’m a book-oriented person). I remember seeing a book on pregnancy written for mentally retarded expectant mothers many years ago (in a college library), and I still wouldn’t mind finding something in print on a similar level which would present chastity education to special-needs teenagers.
Thanks again for the suggestion, Mary!