How Special Education Teachers of High School-Aged Students Address Sex Education

In this qualitative pilot study, five special education teachers of high-school-age students responded to seven research questions regarding how they address sex education, a part of family living from the Health Framework for California Public Schools. The participating special education teachers taught either in special education programs for the emotionally-disturbed(ED) or severely handicapped (SH). An overall identified theme for both groups of teachers was family participation. Other themes were teachers needing to be expert at understanding students learning styles and the need to be an expert at modifying goals for students learning. School nurses can help support and provide accurate information for teachers teaching family living content, as well as be a resource for discussing topics such as helping patients with mv infection or accessing current information regarding sexually-transmitted diseases, and facilitating making the information more real and understandable for special education students. School nurses can also support teachers teaching severely handicapped students by being a resource for information about their student population, in finding visual aids and program development and implementation