Introduction
Youngsters
who are deaf, have little or no frame of reference regarding sexuality.
There is no information
material available that they have access to.
Just like young people who are not deaf, they do talk about sex,
but
they lack actual and realistic knowledge about sex. The parents of deaf
children are often willing to talk
about sex with their son or
daughter, just like the parents of children who are not deaf, but they
often find
it hard to find the right moment or the right tone to do so.
For the parents of deaf children it is extra difficult
because there is
no information material available for deaf adolescents in order to
support their message.
Besides, the parents often regard giving
information to their children as a task of the school, where the
teachers
have been trained in dealing with deaf children.
The
opening of the website Weetal.nl enables young people who are deaf or
hard hearing to gain proper
information about sexuality and
relationships in a manner that is well accessible for them. Deaf young
people
are often very handy with the computer, as the spoken language
does not play a dominant role here.
On www.weetal.nl, the entire
information is offered in the Dutch sign language, in spoken Dutch, in
(basic)
written Dutch and with the aid of illustrations.
The site
contains a reference book with subjects, like one’s own body,
contraceptives and sex. The site also has
an interactive part, like
three interactive comic strips about sexuality and sexual abuse. The
young people
themselves can influence the behaviour of the figures in
the strip in certain situations. A choice has been made
for very
explicit information material.
The initiators and the makers of
this website hope to make a contribution in this way to inform young
people
who are deaf or hard hearing. The website offers the opportunity
to teachers, parents and child raisers to give
shape to sex education
with the aid of explicit material in a visual language. All the
information is given in the
Dutch sign language, spoken Dutch and
written (basic) Dutch.
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English introduction
