The ABC of Sex Education for Trainables was produced by Planned Parenthood in 1975 to instruct teachers and caregivers on the administration of sex education to people with intellectual disabilities, and for all its awkwardness, it’s kind of awesome. It’s incredibly dated, of course. The creepy opening scene feels a bit like the beginning of a slasher flick, and they’re using the démodé terms “trainables” and “retardate.” Regardless, with a pedagogical emphasis on “training” and repetition (rather than traditional classroom structures), the flick is actually really forward-thinking, in a super hippy-dippy way.

For one, the very notion of teaching sex ed to people with disabilities is still somehow controversial. When phrases like “the mind of a child” are used to describe a low IQ, people tend to equate disability with sexlessness. (As someone who worked for a non-profit that facilitated services for people with disabilities, I can assure you, they have the exact same ranges of sexuality as the abled, and many of them have sex.) Second, the movie covers sexual subjects germane to the specific audience. For example, people with disabilities are statistically more likely to be targeted by sexual predators by a wide margin. Extra conversation about safety and boundaries may be necessary (which is what I assume the weirdo art-house first scene was supposed to signify). Third, the film really adamant that explicit, shame-free language be used, and insists teachers rise above “the guilt and embarrassment from our heritage.” There’s even a (very awkwardly acted) sequence that talks about masturbation as a positive—just don’t do it in public!

It’s kind of amazing to hear the narrator insist that teachers refrain from moralizing about sex. That engaged, sympathetic, matter-of-fact tone the teachers are expected to maintain is a stark contrast from a lot of the right-wing sex education in public schools today (and certainly better than the abstinence-only “education” I got in middle America). So while the cinematography and acting are a little wonky, and the soundtrack sounds like a Cat Stevens impersonator, The ABC of Sex Education for Trainables is pretty far out.