Historical Perspectives on Sex
Education
for Students with Visual
Impairments: Looking Back Forty
Years at the Last Special Issue on
this Topic
Stacy Kelly, Ed.D., COMS
Northern Illinois University
skelly@niu.edu
For at least forty years, the field has been
discussing the need for breakthroughs in the sex
education that is provided to students who are
visually impaired (Dickman, 1975; Kapperman &
Kelly, 2013; Scholl, 1974). It does not suffice to
simply convert content into braille, large print, or
audio format (Kapperman, Matsuoka, & Pawelski,
1993). Specialized instructional methods should
also be used (Kapperman et al., 1993). It is evi-
dent, however, that students who are blind or
have low vision have yet to be provided with sex
education that incorporates meaningful methods
and materials (Foulke, 1974; Kelly & Kapperman,
2012; Krupa & Esmail, 2010; Wild, Kelly, Black-
burn, & Ryan, in press). Many recommendations
about instruction in this value-laden topic area
were described in a 1974 special issue of The
New Outlook for the Blind This 1974 special issue
was entitled "Planning Sex Education Programs
for Visually Handicapped Children and Youth." A
lot of the information included in this 1974 publi-
cation is still relevant today. The issues surround-
ing this topic have not been accounted for or fully
addressed by today's cultures, families, or school
systems. The points that follow are specifically di-
rected toward teachers and parents of students
who are visually impaired in the context of sex
education, instruction-based information included
in the 1974 New Outlook for the Blind special is-
sue.
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