Overview

Sex and relationship series

This webinar is an introduction to the often tricky and complex area of sexuality and relationships support.

It aims to increase awareness of the key issues and provide attendees with practical strategies that they can use in their work.  Ann Craft (1987) stated that people with intellectual disabilities have the following basic rights pertaining to sexuality: 

• to grow up, i.e. to be treated with the respect and dignity accorded to adults,

• to know, i.e. to have access to as much information about themselves and their bodies and those of other people, their emotions, appropriate social behaviour etc, as they can assimilate,

• to be sexual and to make or break relationships,

• to be free from the individual sexual attitudes of different caregivers,

• to be free from abuse, and 

• to humane and dignified environments.

Decades later, these rights remain relevant to people with intellectual or cognitive disabilities.

Level of Learning

Intermediate. This activity is targeted to those with some prior learning on the topic.

Related activities in this series

• Sex therapy principles in everyday practice
• Sex and relationships series: An introduction to non-monogamy, kink and alternative relationships
• The impact of trauma on sexual function, relationships and intimacy

Duration of access

This webinar will be recorded. Access to the recording and presenter slides is for 12 months from the date of confirmed registration.

APS CPD-Approved

This activity has been assessed against the APS Standards for CPD activities and approved for its education quality. Learn more about the APS CPD Approval process.

CPD Frequently Asked Questions

Refer to the APS CPD Frequently Asked Questions for general and technical information when undertaking APS Professional development activities.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this webinar, participants should be able to:

• recognise the sexuality rights of people with intellectual or cognitive disabilities,

• identify actionable ideas for initiating conversations about sexuality with individuals and members of the support network, and

• have an increased awareness of useful resources and how to access them.

Presenter(s)

Dr. Natasha Alexander

About the presenter(s)

Dr Natasha Alexander is a warm and quirky clinical psychologist who is not scared of having frank conversations about sexuality and people with intellectual and/or cognitive disabilities. She enjoys empowering parents, support workers and clinicians to explore and reflect on the issues that they face within different layers of context, including multi-cultural and multi-faith environments.
Dr Alexander ran away from government disability services in 2016 to establish Consentability, a sex positive service for people with intellectual or cognitive disabilities and their support network. She supports people with the capacity to consent to relationships; provides guidance about safeguarding those that don’t have capacity; and helps navigate the grey area in between.
Dr Alexander has over 20 years of experience in providing therapy, training and consultation in both mental health and disability contexts. She has worked in multi-disciplinary teams in multicultural communities in the UK, including in East London, where more than 100 languages were spoken. She has co-authored book chapters related to sexuality and intellectual disabilities, written journal articles and presented on panels and at conferences. She is also the Relationships and Sexuality Advisor for AusDOCC – Australian Disorders of the Corpus Callosum. More information can be found at www.consentability.com