Caller: My sister has twins who are turning twelve this summer. I’m making some calls to help her. She always gets me to do the calling because I teach special education, and she thinks I know better what to ask than she does. Truth is she’s as busy as I am, and both twins have developmental disabilities. I’m their proud aunt. What I’m looking for are resources that can help Mandy and her husband talk with their son and daughter about puberty. They are growing up so fast. We all live in beautiful, rural Lake County. And really, I know some other parents who would benefit from this also.
PATHFINDER: You sure have called the right place.
Our parent organization Vanderbilt Kennedy Center produced two online booklets on that very subject and they are downloadable, printable, and free.
Healthy Bodies, A Parent’s Guide on Puberty for Girls with Disabilities
Healthy Bodies, A Parent’s Guide on Puberty for Boys with Disabilities
Each also links to a separate Appendix called The Healthy Bodies Toolkit.
The booklets guide parents in thinking about ways to talk about sometimes sensitive subjects with their children. They describe many specific topics parents may want to discuss with their children. Each covers the onset of puberty; body parts; keeping active; good hygiene and self-care; appropriate behaviors for public and private places; “peers, hormones and mood swings”; body changes; and additional resources. They are written in simple, plain language with strong visual supports and suggestions.
The two toolkits – one for girls, one for boys — are full of helpful visuals, suggestions, social stories, and ideas which can be used for talks and activities that can help a child understand the information on puberty they are learning from their parents. I think they broaden the flexibility of the information, because the book and toolkits are intended for parents of children with many different types of disabilities.
On the Healthy Bodies Toolkit homepage, you will find links to the translations of the booklet and/or the toolkit. Scroll down to find those resources in Spanish, Turkish, and Thai.
Additionally, there are resources geared specifically towards children and adults with autism and a separate toolkit for supporters of children and adults with autism. Online and .pdf versions, and special interactive online courses are available for both Puberty, Sex, and Sexuality: An Introduction for Autistic Teens and Adults Toolkit, and the newest addition: Navigating Puberty, Sex, and Sexuality: A Guide for Supporting Autistic Teens and Adults Toolkit.
It is easy to use an online course at the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center site. There is a link with instructions on that Appendix page where the courses are mentioned. You just must register with your email and a password to create an account, so that you can then login to access the courses you wish to view.
If you should need additional resource information, please feel free to call us back at 1-800-640-4636 or start your journey with a search in our extensive directory of services on our website at TNPathfinder.org.
| *Questions and scenarios found in the Call Pathfinder column represent questions received by Pathfinder but are not taken from actual Pathfinder calls. Actual resource information provided varies based on the specific situation and needs of each individual. |