Can disabled people "do it?"
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Can disabled people "do it?"
| Sat, 10-02-2004 - 12:57am |
Why do some people believe that disabled people are "asexual" or have a
limited, if not unfulfilling, sex life?
limited, if not unfulfilling, sex life?
People who are physically, visually, or even mentally impaired, can and do
enjoy sex and be satisfying lovers, don't they?
Is there research on the sexuality of disabled people?

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>>Why do some people believe that disabled people are "asexual" or have a
limited, if not unfulfilling, sex life?<<
Because some people are ignorant twits.
There are physical disabilities, and mental disabilities. Physically, there are paraplegics, quadraplegics, people with missing limbs, etc. Mentally, there are different things......so it would depend on the individual case.
There are instances of mentally retarded people, or Down's syndrome people not only being sexually active but marrying and having children. Each situation has to be judged on the individual impairments.
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I at least wanted to get in my support post here. Well said, ladies.
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C h a r a c t e r
above all else
Mr. Para
C H A R A C T E R
I don't know about studies per se, but here is a great website - ican.com. It was started by a women who was a quadraplegic from age 16. There is tons of information on it, including pages on relationships and sexuality. One of the pages mentions some studies. The founder of *this* board works for ican and she was the one who introduced me to it.
Edited 10/2/2004 8:46 pm ET ET by tally33
Archives of Sexual Behavior. 32(4): 359. It is quite long and since it is a research article a bit technical so I am just posting the abstract (=summary) and the discussion (corresponds to the conclusion of grade school science fair exhibits).
The major findings were that: disabled people tend to have less sex, lower sexual self esteem, less satisfaction, and higher sexual depression than abled people. These aspects were slightly less severe the longer the person had lived with their disability. Men fared worse than women. Deep kissing frequency was associated with increased satisfaction in women. oral/genital contact and nude cuddling was associated with increased satisfaction in men. The use of erotic materials was associated with DECREASED satisfaction in men. Intercourse was not significantly correlated with increased satisfaction in either gender probably because of performance anxiety or inability.
In the intro they did an extensive literature review (there is a fair amount of research on this) and discussed some of the issues. Some obstacles they bring up are less obvious ones such as lack of privacy and overprotectiveness due to caregivers as well as incontinance etc. They also mentioned that some women experience high levels of satisfaction (but still less then the average for their able bodied counterparts) but that this appears to usually occur in situations where a sexual relationship was present before the disability and continued on afterwards. ANyway, the rest you can judge for yourselves.
Abstract (Article Summary)
This study investigated the association between the severity and duration of physical disability and sexual esteem, sexual depression, sexual satisfaction, and the frequency of sexual behavior. A total of 1,196 participants completed the study. There were 748 participants (367 males, 381 females) who had a physical disability and 448 participants (171 males, 277 females) who were able-bodied. The age range of participants was 18-69 years, with a mean age of 36.39 years (SD = 10.41). The results demonstrated that people with more severe physical impairments experienced significantly lower levels of sexual esteem and sexual satisfaction and significantly higher levels of sexual depression than people who had mild impairments or who did not report having a physical impairment. The study also found that people with more severe physical disabilities engaged in mutual sexual activity significantly less frequently. Women with physical disabilities had significantly more positive feelings about their sexuality and significantly more frequent mutual sexual experiences than their male counterparts. For people with physical disabilities, the frequency of oral sex and nude cuddling were significant predictors of sexual satisfaction in men, while the frequency of deep kissing predicted sexual satisfaction in women. Furthermore, the viewing of erotica was significantly related to sexual dissatisfaction in men. Finally, it was found that people who had experienced their physical impairment for a longer period of time reported significantly more positive feelings about their sexuality. Implications of these findings are discussed and suggestions are made for future research
DISCUSSION
The current study found that people with more severe physical impairments had lower levels of sexual esteem and sexual satisfaction and higher levels of sexual depression than people who experienced mild impairments or the able-bodied population. The study also found that people with a severe physical disability engaged in mutual sexual activity less frequently.
These findings support the qualitative data from previous studies that have demonstrated that people with physical disabilities commonly believe that they are less sexually desirable than able-bodied people and that their disability seriously limits their sexual life (Taleporos, 2001, Taleporos&McCabe, 2001, 2002a). The results are also consistent with the proposal that people with physical disabilities experience difficulties in their sexual lives (Bach & Bardach, 1997, Crabtree, 1997, Donelson, 1998, Earle, 1999, Gill, 1996, Knight, 1983, Saad, 1997, Tepper, 1997). In the present study, both high subjective and objective measures of disability predicted lowlevels of sexuality among the disabled population. Low levels of sexual esteem and low sexual satisfaction in people with severe physical disabilities are also consistent with the previous studies that have found that the romantic lives of people with physical disabilities were limited or less active than those of able-bodied people (MacDougall&Morin, 1979, Nosek et al., 1996, Page et al., 1987, Rintala et al., 1997, Romeo, Wanlass, & Arenas, 1993), although their sexual needs were high (McCabe, Cummins, & Deeks, 2000).
The current study did not separate the participants with physical disability into different disability groups, but instead examined the sexuality of respondents according to both subjective and objective levels of functional impairment. It was anticipated that this would provide a more meaningful and accurate representation of the sexuality of people with physical disability, since people with the same disability (e.g., multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy) can vary substantially in their level of impairment. However, future studies should also include an analysis of the effect of different types of physical impairment (e.g., mobility, congenital vs. acquired disability) on sexuality.
Women reported more mutual sexual experiences, higher sexual satisfaction, higher perceived attractiveness to others, higher sexual esteem, and lower levels of sexual depression than their male counterparts. These empirical data support the assertions of Drench (1992), who stated that sexual adjustment is easier for women because they traditionally place more emphasis on interpersonal aspects of sexuality, such as tenderness and emotional sharing, and so less focus is directed to their genital function.We found that oral sex and nude cuddling appeared to be more important tomenwith physical disabilities, whereas deep kissing was more important to women, indicating that men were more focused on genitally focused activity than women. Furthermore, since the viewing of erotica was related to sexual dissatisfaction in men, it would appear that men may use erotica as a sexual outlet when other, more satisfying outlets, are not available to them. Interestingly, the frequency of sexual intercourse did not predict sexual satisfaction in either gender. This challenges the emphasis placed by researchers and clinicians on the achievement of coitus (Rivas&Chancellor, 1997), and suggests that for people with physical disability, other types of sexual activities may be more closely related to sexual satisfaction. These data suggest that it is important to affirm nonpenetrative sexual behaviors as healthy and valid expressions of the individual's or couple's sexuality, whereas recognizing that men may have a stronger need than women for genitally focused activities such as oral sex or nude cuddling.
Although previous studies have discussed the difficulties of sexual adjustment at the onset of physical disability (Alexander, Sipski, & Findley, 1993, Drench, 1992), this study demonstrated that people who had experienced their physical impairment for a longer period of time reported more positive feelings about their sexuality, even though their physical impairment may have become more severe. In fact, the regression analysis that examined the impact of the disability measures on a composite measure of sexuality demonstrated that the longer the person had experienced the disability, the more positive their level of sexuality. It would appear that there is an adjustment process that takes place as people accept and overcome the new sexual barriers that are put before them. It is possible that during this time individuals meet sexual partners who accept their physical difference, and that this sense of acceptance is subsequently internalized by the person with the physical disability. They may also learn to express and experience their sexuality in a more enjoyable way by learning new techniques that are suited to their physical limitations.
Anovel aspect of this studywas the use of the Internet to obtain the sample and administer the survey. A positive outcome of thiswas a large sample from across the English speaking world. The success in obtaining such a broadbased sample would suggest that the World Wide Web is an efficient and effective tool for conducting research on people with physical disabilities. It is especially useful in surveying participants with severe physical impairments who are unable to complete a paper and pencil test or who would find this physically taxing. Clearly, there may be some biases with a sample dominated by Internet users, and so it is essential to also publicize and provide a printed version of the survey. However, as Internet technology becomes more widely available, this limitation will be less relevant.
There may also have been some bias in the respondents who were drawn from the International Conferences on Sexuality, Disability, and Culture, as these respondents may be more vocal and active in their defense of the rights of people with disability than people from the general community. A comparative group of able-bodied people that is more closely matched to the physically disabled group in terms of relationship status and educational achievement will also provide more information on the specific effect of physical disability on the sexuality variables included in this study. The manner of recruiting some of the above-bodied people in this study (friends or colleagues of people in the disability group) may also have led to a nonrepresentative able-bodied sample in this study.
Finally, although it is evident that physical disability is associated with lower levels of sexual esteem, sexual satisfaction, and sexual frequency, especially when the physical limitation is severe, there appears to be a process of sexual adjustment that takes place after the onset of physical impairment. Future studies need to more closely examine the sexual adjustment process that has been suggested here. Researchers also need to investigate the nature of the psychological, social, and environmental factors that assist people with physical disabilities to develop more positive feelings about their sexual selves.
I'm sorry if you took offense to my post or postings from others.
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