Sexual care of retarded children
Mentally retarded children are more vulnerable than normal children. Statistics show that many times these children have been sexually abused or they may not have the necessary maturity and knowledge in their sexual behavior.
A child psychologist considered puberty in mentally retarded children at its normal age and emphasized the need to educate these people.
Dr. Mansoure Karimzadeh, a child psychologist and director of the educational department of pre-primary child development and education at the University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, in an interview with Mehrkhaneh reporter, stated about the maturity and sexual health of mentally retarded children: Most people think that because mentally retarded children in the field They may have a little cognitive weakness, in the physical field they have the same weakness, delay and disability; If this is not the case. Physiologically, they do not have a developmental delay compared to normal people. For example, a person with Down syndrome does not have much delay in physiological development compared to a normal child. Therefore, it is possible that in the same periods of time that physiological changes happen to normal children, they also have the same experience and sexual maturity and desires, the growth of organs and sex hormones. Therefore, in this sense, there is not much difference between normal and mentally retarded children. It is a popular opinion that sometimes parents may think that mental disability harms the normal sexual development and because these children do not have the mental development appropriate for their age, puberty does not happen in them, or they do not have desire and attraction, or abnormally desire. have sex This group may have cognitive, communication and emotional weakness, but they do not have physiological weakness and are normal. For example, a 13-year-old teenager has arousal, a mentally retarded teenager may experience the same.
Mentally retarded children are often sexually abused
Emphasizing the vulnerability of mentally retarded people, he said: Mentally retarded children are more vulnerable than normal children. Statistics show that many times these children have been sexually abused or they may not have the necessary maturity and knowledge in their sexual behavior. Generally, families do not teach these children the necessary sexual knowledge based on their thoughts or teachers. Sometimes the family does not know what to do at all. Sometimes, preventive skills or social cultural background prevent these issues from being taught to mentally retarded children. Therefore, the lack of knowledge, especially the lack of sexual knowledge, lack of sexual education, emotional dependence on their adults in mentally retarded children, especially in mild retardation, makes them more vulnerable. Therefore, it is necessary for families to have a prevention plan. Unfortunately, the statistics of sexual abuse of these people, especially girls, is very high because they did not have the necessary information and knowledge.
Wrong behaviors due to lack of knowledge
Karimzadeh pointed out the wrong behavior of this group of children and added: because these children and teenagers do not have knowledge, even in the field of their sexual behavior, they may not know how to behave in different situations. Among the wrong behaviors, we can mention the issue of masturbation and inappropriate behaviors (baring the body in public places) many times and for a long time. Anyway, they also have instincts, but they don’t have the knowledge to manage instincts and communication skills. The family also thinks that because this child is mentally retarded, he does not have many inclinations and therefore they do not seek to give the children the necessary knowledge, experience and awareness. Similarly, these children may become interested and attached to someone and try to forcefully approach this person. These are the damages they see. The centers that keep these children have a decisive role. In these cases, both counseling centers and counselors who work with these children can provide the necessary training. Sometimes families say that they don’t want to train at all because then his instincts will wake up, or he may not manage well, or it will cause him to mature prematurely or become experimental.
Refer to a psychologist for correct training for these people
This child psychologist considered the best course of action for education to go to psychologists and continued: they should go to counselors, psychologists and caregivers who have the necessary experience and information in this field because this instinct exists. Sometimes we see a teenager who has mental retardation, because these instincts are present in him but are not properly managed, considering that those hormones are secreted like a normal person, they perform sexual behaviors recklessly or in public. They do not have any intention or purpose; They may sometimes be triggered by seeing more normal stimuli. For example, they are aroused even by people’s clothing, and when this happens to them, they may masturbate in public, or try to have inappropriate physical contact, or try to approach the target person by force and pressure. They may not comply with their coverage; For example, to get naked in front of the crowd. Or play with their genitals. However, because they have not received proper sex education, they do not have the necessary knowledge and skills to manage their relationships, and they do not know how to manage their feelings and emotions, they have not learned what behaviors are counter-valued or not common in society, information about how fathers And they don’t know how to become mothers, which makes them engage in inappropriate sexual behavior in public and in front of the crowd, which is often not pleasant for people.
The determining role of care centers
The member of the faculty of the University of Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences pointed out the decisive role of the care centers for these children and added: It seems that most of the mentally retarded children are kept in special centers. From two aspects, these centers can play a decisive role; One is to educate parents and caregivers to believe that these children have normal physiological development despite their weakness in aspects of cognitive development. As a result, give them basic information so that the family knows how to behave in such situations. Sometimes the family gets confused. Getting specialized knowledge from experts can be a great help to families. The second aspect is teaching these children themselves; Because mentally retarded children do not notice sexual abuse for various reasons. These reasons include fear, threats, concern about losing a sponsor, and unfamiliarity with sexual harassment or physical contact. We must give the necessary training to the parents and these children so that these teenagers do not have such bitter experiences. Therefore, I think that these centers can help both the sexual health of the individual and the necessary training and involvement of the family, and they can provide information on how to interact with these children, what information to convey to them, and how. Take care of their health.
Training programs are different based on the degree of retardation in different people
Regarding children and teenagers who are not kept in special centers for backward children, he said: Those whose children are not in these centers should be connected with these centers and have minimal information. The media may be able to provide awareness and general information to families with retarded children; Of course, it should be noted that all these children are unique according to the type and degree of weakness they have, so their programs should be different according to their degree of retardation. Mildly retarded children who come into the community and are exposed to more communication are more likely to be harmed than those with lower degrees of retardation and lower IQ. Because the family takes care of them more. Therefore, according to their degree of backwardness, a plan should be provided for them, which help, what information and how to be transferred.
The need for the government to enter education
Dr. Karimzadeh emphasized the importance of the government’s involvement in the service coverage of mentally retarded children and stated: it is necessary for the government to go to these families and children and come in to educate them because the more the education of these people in the time of need, the more the cost to the society in the future. will be less; These people, especially the mildly retarded, have many abilities. Many of them may learn a series of jobs and jobs and take the financial and psychological burden off the shoulders of society and family. Another reason for the government’s intervention is that many times we see that the family does not have the power to provide for the education and maintenance of these types of children. The government can cover them to get training even considering the subsidy. This is exactly a type of investment and it will reduce government expenses in the future. In many countries of the world, the family does not even have the right to keep a normal child under the age of three at home. The government obliges families to send their children to kindergartens and preschools. If we cannot provide this opportunity for normal children, we must have this policy for special children with special needs who are weak. Of course, I think governments have done this to a large extent.
The sexual arousal of normal and mentally retarded adolescents is equal
This child psychologist said about the things needed to educate these people: First of all, families should be educated. Then it is the duty of the teachers and caregivers of these children to give them the necessary information if the parents do not have the necessary knowledge, and this requires the knowledge and specialized knowledge of the educators themselves. Communication skills with others and the limits of this communication should be properly defined and determined in trainings; For example, tell children that it is okay to approach you, hug, touch, and kiss you, and teach them how to manage their emotions. About marriage and having children, information that we think is cognitively appropriate for children of the same age, should be taught to them. Another area that these children need is the training of decision-making ability, development of social skills, and familiarization with social customs and norms and values. Let’s remember that ignorance is always a great pest.