ABSTRACT
For all parents, the challenge of coping with their children's transition through puberty into adult life is demanding. When a son or daughter has a severe learning disability there is an additional dilemma as the young person is more financially and socially dependent on carers. The greater relaxation some young men experience in the bath or shower may allow better tolerance of shaving. Parents value advice about management of menstruation. Some will also request hormone treatment to reduce or abolish periods and occasionally hysterectomy is requested though less often than used to be the case. When the family of a young person with severe learning difficulties comes from a minority ethnic or cultural group, their parents' wishes should be consulted fully. The better knowledge among young women may reflect greater efforts to teach them sex education than is made for young men, very few of whom know about contraception.
