The Ottawa Area Intermediate School District is considering implementing an inclusive sex education curriculum for young adults with special needs and cognitive disabilities. The OAISD provides Young Adult Services (YAS) to special needs adults from ages 18-26. These people have been diagnosed with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD’s) such as autism, down’s syndrome, and cerebral palsy. Although they may have adult bodies, some are non-verbal, and many have the cognitive abilities of young children.
A letter was sent on April 14, 2023 to parents/guardians of children in this program describing these changes as “a curriculum that provides effective age and ability-appropriate sexual education that teaches respect, safety, and healthy lifestyle choices.” The letter included an invitation to two daytime options to view the curriculum changes.
Parents were given an hour to view perhaps 50 printed pages of suggested curriculum changes, a set of headphones, and a computer to view approximately 10-15 pages of a Google Doc that had links to video training being considered for use in the updated curriculum. The curriculum is not simply focused on basic anatomy, but includes topics such as masturbation, transgenderism, and abortion. The content instructs cognitively impaired individuals on how to determine if they are ready to have sex, birth control basics, and directs them to Planned Parenthood if they need family planning. The proposed curriculum called Healthy Relationships is part of the 3Rs program which stands for Rights, Respect and Responsibility, and according to the website, is “inclusive sex education for all students.” The curriculum contains links to GLADD, Amaze, and National Council on Independent Living (NCIL).
GLADD’s website states, "As a dynamic media force, GLAAD ensures fair, accurate, and inclusive representation that rewrites the script for LGBTQ acceptance. GLAAD tackles tough issues to shape the narrative and provoke dialogue that leads to cultural change. GLAAD protects all that has been accomplished and envisions a world with 100% LGBTQ acceptance.” GLADD is actively working to normalize the LGBTQ lifestyle to younger and younger children by pushing books such as This Book is Gay, which is essentially an instruction manual on how to have gay sex. Now they seek to capture the cognitively impaired, also.
Amaze offers animated videos on sex education topics including pregnancy, reproduction, puberty, and gender identity. Here are links to just a few of their grooming videos which normalize all sorts of sexual behaviors. As you investigate these videos, ask yourself: how would a 20-year-old adult with the mental comprehension of an 8-year-old be affected by these videos?
**********************WARNING****************** THESE VIDEOS ARE EXPLICIT********
What is an abortion?
The Amaze What is an abortion? video makes abortion seem simple, safe and common as it states, “during this SIMPLE procedure,” with the voice accent on the word simple. The video then addresses the legal side of abortion. It tells young people how to seek judicial bypass to obtain an abortion without permission from a parent, and it states that crisis pregnancy centers are “FAKE” clinics that try to talk you out of getting an abortion. “Don’t go to one of those by mistake.”
The National Council for Independent Living has videos that address sex education for people with IDDs. In the videos they refer to “people with a penis, or people with a vulva”. They do not use male and female references. In the videos they explain sex does not equal gender. Sex has to do with genitals, but “we get to decide” gender.
Here is a video of a special needs teenage girl speaking at a board meeting about how she got in trouble for using pronouns in the traditional manner. This proposed sex education curriculum is damaging to all children as it creates confusion, but it is especially damaging to those with cognitive disabilities.
By law, all people have a right to sex education curriculum, but is a curriculum containing the above-referenced materials really the best choice for young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities?