Journal of Intellectual Disability Research

Background People with intellectual disability have the same sexual needs as those without any disability, yet their sexuality is often restricted by reluctant attitudes and/or fears based on irrational beliefs. The aim of this study is to describe and analyse different areas of sexuality in adults with mild or moderate intellectual disability. Method The sample consisted of 180 men and 180 women attending occupational centres. All the participants were administered a questionnaire about sexuality adapted to their characteristics. Results Results show that 84.2% have had sexual relationships with another person, this percentage being higher in females and in people aged between 38 and 55 years old. Condoms are used by 41.4%. The most frequently used contraceptive methods are the pill (39.6%), transdermal patch (30.2%) and intrauterine device (6.7%). 9.4% of the women and 2.8% of the men has experienced sexual abuse. Conclusion In conclusion, there is a need to draw up educational programmes, differentiated according to gender and adapted to their reality, which include contents related with sexual health, sexual abuse and condom use.

2016

All human beings are sexual from birth to death, and the Intellectually Disabled (ID) are not exempt from this. The issues of sexual needs and sexual behaviour of the ID have been a sensitive and controversial topic. Perhaps because of the taboos associated with Intellectual Disability and sexuality, individually or in combination, very little is known about the sexuality of people with ID, but research studies do indicate that it is much the same as the general population, although opportunities for sexual expression are limited. This article provides an overview of sexuality issues in ID, with regard to sexual rights, sexual development and maturation, menstruation and menstrual hygiene, masturbation, petting, sexual activity, marriage, pregnancy, parenting, sexual abuse, fertility and birth control, menopause, and the progress and issues in sexuality education for ID. Prior research shows that individuals with ID show secondary sexual characteristics and development similar to th...

The Oxford Handbook of Theology, Sexuality, and Gender, ed. Adrian Thatcher, pp. 676-687.

This chapter explores models of disability as these relate to sexuality and theology. It begins by examining moral assumptions that define people with disabilities as asexual or hypersexual, and offers alternatives to these limiting perspectives. It then explores medical understandings of disability, highlighting those that facilitate holistic notions of health and that focus on adaptive sexual practices in response to impairment, as well as liberationist understandings that demand justice and sexual rights for all people with disabilities. Finally, this article explores the ways in which disability reminds us to attend to embodiment more authentically in general, not as an idealized and static norm but rather in the messiness and limits and goodness of real life. Attention to disability as such offers new possibilities for sexual theology, not just for disabled people but for the (temporarily) non-disabled as well.

Sexuality and Disability, 2010

British Journal of Social Work, 2015

People with intellectual disabilities (PID) share the same needs for affectionate and intimate relationships as other people. In this study, a review of the literature was performed to (a) examine the opinions reported in the peer-reviewed literature regarding the sexual experiences of PID and (b) identify factors that contribute to the promotion or restriction of sexual expression by PID. Sixteen qualitative articles were identified from electronic databases and reviewed. People with PID were found to exhibit the same spectrum of sexual life as the general population, and three major themes were identified: abstinence, regulation, and autonomy. Some PID preferred to abstain from sex, whereas others considered engagement in sexual activity to have a hand that affects and influences the rights of PID to engage in sexual activity. Further empirical research on the empowerment of sexual expression of PID and the formation of the unintended invisible hand is needed, as this will provide information to families and welfare systems and thus enhance the self-determination and rights of PID to pursue sexual expression and satisfaction.

The idea of sex and sexuality education in schools is no doubt an intense debate, and issues of who does the teaching, where, how and who is taught; are central to the argument. Schools are important sites for the production and regulation of sexual identities both within the school and beyond. However, schools go to great lengths to forbid expression of sexuality by both children and teachers. Human sexuality is an interesting issue for the young and the old, the layman and the academic alike, even though it is still closeted in many African societies including Lesotho. In this paper I explore and describe the experiences of youth with physical disabilities and how they construct their sexual identities. Data were collected during individual interviews with grade 12 learners living with disabilities, who are members of the Phomolong Support Group in Maseru. The transcribed interviews were analyzed through descriptive analysis.

2015

America is obsessed with sex, and has been for a long time. However, the realization that people with disabilities have sexual desires is a relatively new idea. Before the 1970s, there was little to no research in this area of sexuality and disability, even within the disability studies literature. To start, it is worth noting what we mean by sexuality. The Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States (SIECUS) defines sexuality “as multifaceted, having biological, social, psychological, spiritual, ethical, and cultural dimensions”. As we will see, this paper adopts the social model of disability. In terms of the quantity of persons with disabilities, over 56 million of US people (almost 20%) have a disability according to the most recent data in 2010. In terms of the amount of people engaging in sex in the US, among adults aged 25–44, about 98% of women and 97% of men had vaginal intercourse, and with 89% of women and 90% of men ever had oral sex with an opposite-sex partner. Despite the numbers of persons with disabilities, the barriers facing sexual expression by this group are so extensive that Siebers argues that those with disabilities are a sexual minority. This category of persons are denied access to sexual experiences and control of their own bodies. Historically the topic of sex and disability “has been stigmatized as taboo.”

Sexualities, 2016

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Disability & Society, 2017