Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to examine high school counselors' attitudes toward the sexuality of students with intellectual disabilities. One hundred and twenty-two high school counselors in Alabama were the participants for this study. Participants completed the Attitudes towards Sexuality and Students with Intellectual Disability Scale (ASSIDS) and a demographic questionnaire, both developed for this research. This study examined the relationship between counselors' attitudes and variables hypothesized to predict their attitudes. The predictor variables for this study were: (a) frequency serving students with intellectual disabilities, (b) comfort discussing sexuality with students with intellectual disabilities, (c) number of academic courses taken addressing intellectual disabilities, (d) number of academic courses taken addressing sexuality, (e) number of workshops or conference presentations attended (within last three years) addressing intellectual disabilities, (f) number of workshops or conference presentations attended (within last three years) addressing sexuality, (g) counselors' age, and (h) counselors' gender. Data were analyzed using stepwise regression. The results revealed that comfort discussing sexuality with students with intellectual disabilities and the number of workshop or presentations counselors attended that addressed sexuality were predictive of counselors' attitudes. Comfort discussing sexuality with students with intellectual disabilities was positively correlated with high school counselors' attitudes and number of workshops or conference presentations attended that addressed sexuality was negatively correlated with high school counselors' attitudes. The results of this study have implications for high school counselors and counselor educators and supervisors. Future direction for research and limitations of the study are discussed.
