The myths and misconceptions surrounding the topic of sexuality and people with developmental disabilities were examined to better understand the detrimental effects they were having on the sexual health of individuals with developmental disabilities. Persons with developmental disabilities are often infantilised and viewed as asexual. This…

The Fresh Start Program was an experiment in providing a comprehensive educational and therapeutic program for sexually abused and exploited adolescents. The program was based on the theory and practice of experiential, outdoor-challenge adventure education. The experiment involved 16 youth in a living and learning environment in the north woods…

A validation study was conducted on the Child Sex Abuse Attitude Scale (CSAAS) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the factor structure of three comparative CFA models. Multitrait multimethod analysis was also used to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the CSAAS. The instrument was developed based on the theory of…

A study examined whether theatrical performances can communicate appropriate help-seeking skills to children for avoiding sexual abuse. The study compared the effectiveness of a play in which characters seek help for sexual abuse with that of a similar videotaped presentation, and with a control group that viewed neither the play nor the…

A survey was administered to families in St. Lucia during home visits between November 1993 and July 1995, after the local Parents As Teachers Programme had been affiliated with the Parents As Teachers Program in St. Louis, Missouri (affiliation took place in 1991). In all, 2000 home visits were conducted in the communities of Laborie, Banse,…

Each of the four issues of this newsletter published in 1993 consists of one article dealing with a particular policy debate. Number 1, "Canadian Special Education Policies: Children with Learning Disabilities in a Bilingual and Multicultural Society" (Linda S. Siegel and Judith Wiener), discusses social and cultural factors affecting…

This pamphlet discusses the problems of child sexual abuse, and introduces the Heart to Heart program created by the Ounce of Prevention Fund in Illinois. The pamphlet begins with reflections of adolescents who were sexually abused during childhood, and presents statistical information on this issue. It also discusses the various effects of…

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a fairly recent inclusion in the literature as a psychiatric disorder. Currently, researchers are trying to relate PTSD to many different environmental and psychosocial stressors including physical abuse, emotional abuse, war trauma, and sexual abuse. This paper addresses research concerning the…

The mental health community has become increasingly aware of the prevalence of childhood sexual abuse (CSA). A recent national survey found that 16% of adult males and 27% of adult females had experienced some type of CSA. This paper reviews the empirical literature in an attempt to answer the following questions: (1) Is CSA correlated with the…

An evaluation of the "Talking about Touching" personal safety (1996 editions) curricula for Preschool/Kindergarten and Grades 1-3 was conducted to determine the extent to which students retained information and effectively demonstrated the skills taught in the program and to gather feedback from practitioners using the program to guide…

The role of the school in the prevention of and intervention in child sexual abuse is examined in this digest. Information is provided on factors that affect recognition and reporting by school personnel; potential indicators of child sexual abuse, both behavioral and physical; issues related to allegations involving school employees; the…

Teachers have a special trust with students that includes not taking advantage of or abusing them. To ensure that sexual abuse is handled correctly in the school system, a policy must be adopted that requires employees to report incidences of abuse and make sure that the reporting requirement is balanced against the accused individual's rights.…

To determine how often children falsely report being sexually abused, this study asked professionals to indicate the percentage of children with whom they had worked who had made false reports. In addition, this study examined the variables that might be associated with the percentage of false allegations reported by professionals. The factors…

The curriculum on sexual abuse is intended for professionals working with hearing impaired, physically disabled, blind, and mentally retarded students. Introductory material addresses the vulnerability of disabled adolescents to sexual abuse; presents background information on such topics as victims, offenders, reporting abuse, and Minnesota laws…

Since children who have been abused much of their lives may be unaware that what is happening is unusual, it may be necessary for teachers to take the initiative in educating young children to recognize that abuse is not normal and to talk with someone if and when they realize they are a victim. This education can take place through the use of…