Inappropriate touch
How to read the stories

Inappropriate touch

Some people with a learning disability, or another condition such as autism, can find social interaction difficult to understand. They might have been brought up in an institutional setting, perhaps in a hospital or residential home, and not experienced normal loving touch. They might have been abused as a child, and learned the wrong set of rules.

Perhaps they missed out on educational opportunities. Many older adults with learning disabilities have missed out on sex and relationships education at school. In the UK all schools now have a responsibility to include pupils with additional needs in an appropriate and accessible way in the PSHE (Personal Social Health and Economic education) curriculum, including sex and relationships education.

The risk to other people

As members of the public, our general judgements of someone who touches us without consent can vary a lot. We weigh up the possible threat to ourselves and our families, and whether we think the person wants to hurt or abuse us, or whether they have just made a mistake and can be diverted easily. There is no one right way to react when you are faced with someone who does not conform to the basic rules of touch; they may indeed pose a real risk to others. Families, carers and professionals are sometimes reluctant to put patterns of behaviour together over the long term, and may accidentally miss a risky pattern by viewing incidents in isolation.

We may need to make snap judgements about people’s intentions, and whether they are responsible for the way they behave. We need to think about whether they just don’t know the right way to behave, and need an educational intervention, or are behaving in a genuinely risky way. There could be a genuine mistake; they might be concentrating on just a part of someone and not the whole person. Some people have difficulty understanding other people’s reactions, for example they may wrongly interpret a scream as a laugh. Specialist therapists can support many people with these types of problems.

How to read the stories

There is no right or wrong way to read the stories.

Some people are not used to reading stories. Start at the beginning and read the story in each picture. Encourage the reader to move through the pages at their own pace.
Encourage the person to tell the story in their own words. You will discover what they think is happening, what they already know, and how they feel. If you are using the pictures to help explain a procedure to someone, you may need to describe or clarify the actions being shown in each picture to help them understand. Try not to challenge the reader(s) or suggest their ideas are wrong.
Some pictures may be more difficult to understand. It can help to prompt the people you are supporting, for example:
• Who do you think that is?
• What is happening?
• How is he or she feeling?
• Do you feel like that? Has it happened to you/ your friend/ your family?
Allow people enough time to follow the pictures at their own pace. Allow time for discussion of each picture.
Some people may benefit from reading the larger story from which the extract has been taken. This will allow them to explore their feelings and experiences in more depth. To buy the complete book, follow the link to the bookshop that appears at the end of the story.