Education Guide

Parents and teachers need to understand, and often revise their own concepts and sexual behaviors to cope adequately with the development of the sexuality of children with disabilities.

A good education starts with respect to sexual desires and needs of the child. To play the role of translating the social rules of conduct and to help them to discriminate how to deal socially with her sexuality, parents and teachers need to be alert to the signs of child and students.

According to psychologist Bortolozzo Ana Claudia Maia, author of Sexuality and Disability, researcher and professor at Unesp Bauru, you need to understand what children say and what they do not say, for silence can have many meanings, how to demonstrate the difficulties that are facing.

According to the psychologist, the preschools and elementary and secondary education are not prepared to deal with the sexuality of children and adolescents. She finds that many teachers do not yet understand the role of teaching sex education.

Ana Claudia Bortolozzo said the situation is even more difficult when it comes to children with disabilities, because the schools are willing to receive it, but do not yet know how to work with her. Listen to the last part of the interview.

Ana Claudia Bortolozzo Maia is a psychologist, a professor at Unesp Bauru, author of Sexuality and Disability, published by Editora Unesp.