Holistic Sexuality Education Model for Malaysian Children with Special Needs (H-Sexe)

Abstract

Neglected sexual health education in the disability community leaves stakeholders unprepared, resulting in significant social issues. To address this gap, this study set out to explore stakeholders’ perceptions towards developing a Holistic Sexuality Education Model for Malaysian Children with Special Needs (H-SEXE) through adopting a multiple case study approach. A total of 33 respondents who are major stakeholders from three main zones in Malaysia were interviewed. Observations were also conducted on public and private primary- and secondary level sexuality education classes. The H-SEXE is derived thematically and consists of five interrelated parts, namely, a) Input, referring to knowledge, attitude and skills to be imparted from contexts to special educational needs (SEN) children; b) Contexts and Determinant Factors, referring to places and stakeholders that SEN children continuously and consistently learn from, depending on culture and stakeholders’ existing knowledge, attitude and skills; c) SEN Child, referring to readiness of the child such as mental and chronological age, diagnosis and needs, strengths and interests; d) Content and Delivery, referring to themes and respective topics that has to be progressive and taught concurrently, delivery methods which include instructional strategies and materials; and, e) Output, which are demonstration of learning outcomes such as self-awareness, self-management and self-expression and protection by SEN children. The study concludes that the H-SEXE can be fully utilised as a framework to guide further planning, decision-making and implementation of sexuality education for SEN children from the ground-root and the top-down level.