Dreaming about relationships, expressing sexuality: supporting people with severe learning disabilities and complex needs

People with severe learning disability, complex and high support needs have feelings and desires towards the same stimuli as people from the general population.

How a person expresses these is unique and those in a supporting role may wonder how to address this need. This course explores what sexuality may mean for someone with severe learning disability. It will also explore the issue of access to developing relationships for people whose primary connections are with themselves and with the people in their supportive environment.

The course is based on the principle that the right to express sexuality safely means acquiring information and skills through structured, person-centred approaches, and requires particular responses and attitudes from services, staff and carers.

This course is suitable for anyone who supports people with severe learning disabilities.

Aim

To raise awareness and understanding of the wanted relationships and sexuality needs communicated by people who have severe learning disabilities and complex needs.

Learning outcomes

• Explore service user relationship needs within the current legal and policyframework.
• Identify own attitudes and values concerning issues of sexuality and people with severe learning disabilities and how these may impact on practice.
• Recognise the impact of individual and community values on person-centred approaches in this work.
• Increase the range of effective responses to service users’ wanted relationships and developing sexuality.