First, review the case study about Avery below. You may find it helpful to refer to the suggested answers for the Explore activity in Lesson One. Then answer the questions in the Sexual Behavior Reflection Tool.

Avery is a 7-year-old student in your classroom with delays in social-emotional and communication development. An intervention specialist and speech therapist each come to the classroom once a week to fulfill services on Avery’s individualized education program (IEP). The family has mentioned that Avery goes to weekly speech therapy at an outpatient clinic, too. Avery is the youngest of five children, and the school staff think the parents “baby” Avery. Staff have discussed that the family let’s Avery “walk all over them.” Adam, Avery’s father, has shared that they feel bad for Avery because of their difficulty with speech and that the family feels the need to “spoil” Avery.

Avery primarily uses gestures and short sentences not typical of students her age to communicate. It seems like Avery has a lot of thoughts but isn’t able to get them out. The school staff observe that Avery accesses the learning environment and physically engages in play similar to the other students in the classroom. Recess seems to be Avery’s favorite activity.

Avery is interested in interacting with peers but is often ignored, likely due to difficulty understanding Avery’s speech. When Avery wants to play with another student, staff observe Avery doing the following: trying to kiss on the mouth, giving unwanted hugs, and sometimes touching other student’s genitals over clothing. Avery thinks it is funny when students respond to these behaviors. Staff have noticed that these behaviors primarily occur during less structured activities and related arts. When this happens staff respond by saying, “Stop, friends don’t like that.” While Avery stops in the moment, the behaviors have continued for several months now.