Sexuality is a source of energy of life, necessary for the growth and development of each one of us. When we talk about people with intellectual diversity, in many cases it is seen as a threat. There is a widespread belief that they will not be able to channel all this energy, which can even be dangerous for themselves or their environment, and too often we have seen how this source has been prevented by preventing its development. By preventing sexuality from flowing naturally, preventing access to the necessary supports to understand and channel positively their sexual development, what is achieved is to put one's own growth in crisis, all that unchanneled energy ends up exploding like a Geyser and inadequate sexual behavior begins to occur. Sexual education is the transmission of information and knowledge adapted to the capacity of understanding of each one; relevant answers to all questions always in terms of truth, using the occasions that arise spontaneously in everyday life (both at school and at home); integration in the program and in the global educational process. Sex education provides the individual with the necessary tools and training on how to channel their sexual energy, and allow this source to flow responsibly and satisfactorily. The SEXINLIFE project allows the exchange of good practices among related entities on the sexual education of people with intellectual disability. This allows professionals to offer a quality sexual education in their Centers of attention to people with intellectual disability. They will allow families to have reference elements contributed by other peers, other relatives who have lived through the same space of insecurity and fear. And they will know in first voice the results of providing life opportunities to their daughters and sons in the voice of the daughters and children of other relatives. It will allow people with diversity who have been beneficiaries of sex education for long time to have a shuttle from which turn their life experiences and on the other hand to people who have not yet had access to this education will give them the possibility that in their centers can be launched and know the resources needed to develop sex education programs, complete, from a sexological perspective. The general objective of SENINLIFE is to exchange good practices among the professionals of the Centers that work with people with intellectual diversity, to share knowledge, resources and tools on Sexual education for people with intellectual and / or functional diversity, which allows to increase the quality of life of this group and their families, thus guaranteeing their active inclusion in society. The specific objectives of the project are: - Give voice to the sexual rights of people with intellectual diversity. - Open the concept of sexuality from a sexological approach; in the plane of sexual identity, sexual affectivity and sexual behavior. - Exchange knowledge and methodological resources for sexual education adapted to the needs of understanding the different levels of cognitive impairment. - Support families to see sexuality as an opportunity for life and growth and not as a problem. - Create a network of resources for people with intellectual diversity, families and professionals. - Transfer successful experiences to Centers that want to develop sex education. These were the activities carried out to achieve the objectives that had been set: -Manual on Sexuality Education: Easy to read manual for everyone; simple, clear and not very extensive. Theoretical and methodological tools are provided to facilitate the implementation of a sexuality education programme. It is presented in virtual support but its design allows a good printing on paper. -Bank of Experience: Recording of videos of three minutes each, with people with cognitive diversity, families and professionals. First person interviews presenting their views on the need for sexuality education for people with disabilities. -European Network for Inclusive Sexuality Education: virtual format for sharing experiences and interventions in sexuality education, a space where references can be shared. -Training of trainers: Meeting where professionals from organisations have been trained to set up sex education programmes for people with disabilities, a theoretical approach to sexuality and methodology for educational intervention. -Combined mobility: Encounters of people with intellectual disabilities in face-to-face and virtual format. The theme has been training in the field of sexuality and also reflection and diagnosis of their reality. The results achieved from the implementation of the activities have been: -Didactic manual "Más Sex Education": a dossier of resources with a sexological approach to set up group sexual education activities with people with cognitive diversity, family members and professionals. -15 professionals from the participating entities trained in sex education. Contents: Concept of sexuality, experiences in educational intervention and adapted methodology. -17 young people with disabilities trained in sex education: Combined face-to-face and online mobility format. Face-to-face mobility in Portugal, training given by the previously trained professionals and by the sex education professional who has supported the technical part throughout the project. Topics: concept of sexual education, sexual identity, the desired and desirable partner, erotics. -Audiovisual material: Short videos of testimonies of people with intellectual disabilities, families and professionals that show the need for sexual education, translated into English and available to the public. -Facebook group linking partners and professionals interested in sex education: Shared information on sex education, monitoring and dissemination of all activities carried out in the project. The Project Association is composed by 5 organizations from five EU Member States: 4 from Southern Europe (Spain, Portugal, Italy and Cyprus), and one from Central Europe (Poland). This broad coverage of the EU territory will help to collect, compare and share experiences between different countries that share a need: to develop Sexual education for people with intellectual diversity, in territories with little or no development of this topic of fundamental importance. At the same time, it will help reach a large number of stakeholders, and establish joint working networks at European level. The partners of the project are: - San Xerome Emiliani Association (Spain) - Associazione Pegaso Onlus (Italy) - Associacao de cerebral paralysis of Viseu (Portugal) - Stowarzyszenie na Rzecz Spoldzielni Socjalnych (Poland) - IMS Research & Development Center (Cyprus)
The general objective of SEXINLIFE has been to exchange good practices among the professionals of the Centers that work with people with intellectual disability, in order to share knowledge, resources and tools on sexual education for people with intellectual and/or functional disability, which allows increasing the quality of life of this group and that of their families, thus guaranteeing their active inclusion in society. The specific objectives of the project have been: - To give voice to the sexual rights of people with intellectual disability. - To open up the concept of sexuality from a sexological approach; at the level of sexual identity, affective-sexual and sexual behaviour. - To exchange knowledge and methodological resources for a sexual education adapted to the needs of understanding the different levels of cognitive impairment. - Support families to see sexuality as an opportunity for life and growth and not as a problem. - To create a network of resources for people with intellectual disability, families and professionals. - To transfer successful experiences to centers that want to develop sexual education.
The entity San Xerome Emiliani has a long experience in sex education intervention with its users, families and professionals. The centre's vocation is the exchange of experiences and collaboration with other entities in order to enrich our work together. The main reason for requesting a project aimed at sex education for people with intellectual disability is the results acquired in the work of the last twenty years. The needs that we have identified in the project have been: -The needs of the people with intellectual disabilities in being recognised as complete beings, as sexed beings with their processes of personal growth, their needs of meeting a partner and their dimension of satisfaction of their erotic desires. -The needs of the families to understand the sexuality of their sons and daughters and to receive the support of the professionals to accompany in a systemic way in this dimension of life. -The needs of professionals to have training on the subject in order to broaden the concepts of sexuality and access to adapted educational resources to be able to work on the concepts of sexuality in their spheres of action.