The ABC of Sex Education for Trainables

"The ABC of Sex Education for Trainables" is a 1975 short film created by Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania and hosted by Richard Dix. It was intended to inform people about the need to educate the mentally disabled ("trainables," as they are referred to in the film) about sex. Reflecting the views of the time, the film explains that "trainables" cannot learn in the same manner as those of normal intelligence, but must instead be trained through repetition.

The video places a high priority on teaching the mentally disabled about sex so that they will not make inappropriate sexual comments, expose parts of their bodies, masturbate in public, be involved in unplanned pregnancies, or become victims of rape or molestation. It also notes that the goal of teachers should be to explain sexuality in a factual manner, and that views of sexual morality vary between families and should therefore be left for parents to teach.

The movie is used in an episode of The Residents video series TIMMY called TIMMY and the Sex Lesson.

Scenes from the movie

*The opening sequence is of a girl (presumably a mentally disabled person) walking down the street. She is approached by a man in a car who leans out of his window and plays with her hair. She then gets in the back seat of his car and rides away.

*A group of teachers are in a workshop together. The instructor encourages the teachers to yell out different slang terms for the penis while she writes them on the board. This is intended to make the teachers more comfortable with the words so that they won't be embarrassed to teach mentally disabled children about sex.

*A man sits with a mentally disabled young man and explains to him about how penises become erect using several drawings.

*A woman comes into her son's bedroom unannounced and discovers him masturbating. She then explains to him that it is good that he is doing it in private, that it feels good, and that someday she and he will have to talk about it and then leaves the room.

*A man comes into a room where a boy is sleeping and asks him why he has not gotten out of bed yet. The boy replies: "I'm all wet and sticky!". The man proceeds to explain to the boy what a wet dream is and says he will help him clean up.

External links

* [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2987243478639579087&q=sex+ed+for+trainables Watch the film]
*imdb title|id=0209871|title=The ABC of Sex Education for Trainables

Modern resources

* [http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/journals/3518703.html Teenagers with Mental Disability Lack Reproductive Education and Knowledge; Still, Many Have Had Sex] - by C. Coren, "Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health", July/August 2003