Apr 242006
A colleague sent me a link to a NYT article discussing an emerging trend: social service agencies teaching adults with cognitive disabilities about sexuality and romance. I believe I posted a similar article a couple months ago, but it’s good to see this meme taking hold in the media. The fact that people with disabilities experience sexual desire isn’t newsworthy in itself, but the fact that American society is (slowly) beginning to normalize its views on disability and sexuality certainly merits attention. I was somewhat surprised to read that between 50 and 85 percent of women are sexually assaulted before age 18 (the assault rates for men are relatively lower, but still astonishing). These numbers reveal a disturbing disconnect. On the one hand, the myth of the asexual or the eternally sexually innocent person with a disability still prevails in our culture. On the other hand, these figures suggest that people with disabilities–especially women–are statistically likely targets for sexual violence.
I strongly believe that society’s stubborn refusal to completely abandon that myth directly contributes to the ongoing abuse of people with disabilities. When we deny these adults the right to seek out relationships and express their sexuality in a safe and emotionally rewarding context, we isolate and marginalize them, leaving them at greater risk for stumbling into a predatory relationship. Hopefully, programs like the one discussed in the article will spread across the nation and give people with disabilities a more healthy regard for themselves and their potential as romantic partners.
Hell, even I could use that once in a while.
