Here are some great resources to help caregivers talk to their adolescent or teen with FASD about puberty and sexuality.
• Planet Puberty is an Australian guide for parents of adolescents and teens with an intellectual disability. It's an online booklet designed to help you to plan how you’re going to support your child as they transition from childhood into adulthood. The more prepared you are, the more confident you will feel in supporting your child through puberty.
Click here to read and download the Planet Puberty guide.
• Autism NZ has an excellent online article about what's appropriate and inappropriate from a sexuality angle for young people, including where it's ok to take your clothes off; navigating sexuality in their peers; masturbation and sexual abuse. This article also has ideas for workshopping discussion points with your child.
Click here to read.
• The IHC Library has a wealth of helpful books about emerging sexuality for both caregivers/parents and for adolescents/teens themselves. The library is based in Wellington, but can post books directly to you for a small fee.
Click here for a list of books on this theme.
The IHC Library also has a couple of videos it commissioned about puberty (one for girls and one for boys) which you can watch with your child.
Billy Grows Up: This film uses a family situation to help young men and boys understand what is happening to them during the puberty transition process. It provides basic information about the physical changes involved in this process, as well as discussion about hygiene, emotional issues and public and private behaviour associated with discovering your own body. The family consists of Billy, who is 11, his Mum and Dad and brother Max. In the film we see Billy being helped by Dad initially who then gets Mum and Max to join in.
Click here to watch 'Billy Grows Up'.
Tara Grows Up: This short film is a guide about puberty for young girls with an intellectual disability, as a preparation for their first period. In the film the family, helps Tara, who is 11, understand what she can expect, why her life will develop this way and how she can manage her period. Good hygiene, the normality of having periods and the need for privacy are all stressed, with a repeat towards the end using Tara’s doll as a prop. The film starts with her Mum talking to Tara, who then involves the rest of the family. Tara’s older sister has a key part to play, explaining and demonstrating all the things that Tara needs to know. It is suggested that the film should be watched first by the parents as well as the caregiver if involved, so that they can make decisions as to how to best use it.
Click here to watch 'Tara Grows Up'.
We're very grateful to the IHC Library to be able to share these resources.