What is the RESIDE project?
This project is called RESIDE because it refers to a power or right belonging to a person. We believe that it is every child and young person’s right to be provided with evidence-based, effective relationship and sexuality education (RSE) so that they can make informed, safe choices about their relationships.
Young people with intellectual disabilities want friendships and relationships yet may have few beyond immediate family members, leading to an absence of social networks and increased isolation. Some may want intimate relationships that can involve sex, and some are sexually active.
While many schools create programmes, or use materials taken from online sources, these may not always be appropriate for pupils with intellectual disabilities.
Our UK wide qualitative study, It’s My Life – Making It Our Reality, showed that the children and young people wanted information on friendships, sex, contraceptive use, and abusive relationships, while parents were concerned about in-person and online safety, respecting boundaries and consent. Both the children and young people and parents wanted to learn about relationships and mental health.
The RESIDE project will ...
Co-develop a RSE programme for children and young people with intellectual disabilities.
Test the acceptability of this programme with children and young people, parents and teachers.
Test the feasibility and effectiveness of the newly developed programme.
How will we do this?
The research team and co-design teams will work together to develop topics, scenarios, lesson plans, child friendly workbooks and parent information sheets. All materials will take account of necessary adaptations and be downloadable for use offline.
Animations and video content will be created to illustrate scenarios such as online safety, boundaries, friends.
The acceptability of the newly developed programme will be tested with children and young people, parents and teachers, across special schools in the United Kingdom.
