As the parent of a child with an IEP, now in high school, I am extremely appreciative of the efforts being made to include sexual education in student's IEPs. Our own experience with this subject of education was, like many other students in self-contained classrooms...never considered until questions were raised about including sexual education in the curriculum, and then addressed with ableist responses, and instruction provided through a hidden curriculum. Aligned with the basic rights of being human outlined in the guidance, sexual education is a proactive strategy to experiencing healthy relationships, understanding personal and social boundaries, being self-determined in caring for oneself and others, and building prevention of abuse, neglect, and exploitation.
Therefore, I emphasize the guidance that IEP teams and sexual education instructors be culturally sensitive, trauma approach focused, and family-centered in proactively including sexual education and any accommodations necessary in students' IEPs. Additionally, I appreciate how sexual education is described as more inclusive of self and relational care than just reproductive biology.
I'd like to see guidance for family-centered sexual education that includes open access options for shared resources and discussion prompts for reinforced learning at home aligned with instruction at school.
Additionally, the guidance for sexual education included in IEPs should be open to all students as a proactive strategy, not just limited to those exhibiting negative behaviors to which this instruction is solely a reactive response. We don't need to wait for a reason to provide sexual education to people with disabilities. We already know that people with disabilities are 7-12 times more at risk of sexual abuse than those without depending on gender, disability type, etc. We need to be proactive!