KissMeGoodnight eLearning Series:
Your Sexual Health

Overcoming a Disability and Your Sexual Health

There is a misconception in society that believes when a person is disabled, they no longer enjoy the pleasures of a sexual experience. This is not the case. Many individuals are disabled in some fashion and still enjoy the intimacy and pleasure that comes from being with a partner. An important part of therapy for a disabled individual is regaining the self-confidence and sexual identity. To relearn that they are a sexual person and not simply a person with a disability is an important part of their individuality.

There are individuals who have the belief that people with disabilities are not sexual beings or should not want to engage in sexual activities. Regardless of this viewpoint a person, living with a disability does not stop the desire to be loved, touched, and intimate with another person. It is important to provide the disabled person with the sexual information relevant to their disability and show them how they can overcome the challenges they face in this new area of their life.

Here is a look at the issues of reproduction and pregnancy among women with disabilities. As with men living with disabilities, both men and women are individuals first. These people are individuals who have a disability and should not be defined by their disability. To decide to have children is often a desire of those with disabilities and this is not to be considered lightly. There are considerations regarding the disabilities that either one or both may have.

• Are the disabilities genetic?
• How will becoming pregnant affect the health of the woman if she is disabled?
• How will caring for the child influence the lives of the parents? Is it only one parent with the disability or both?

The medical professional will talk with the perspective parents to make certain that all their questions are answered.

The woman has many considerations before taking on the challenges of pregnancy, labor and delivery, and finally child rearing. There is help available and she should not hesitate to consult with her doctor regarding every aspect of childbirth. If the woman has a disability and has significantly overcome the emotional challenges that come with limitations, it is important that she is aware of the emotional changes that occur during pregnancy, giving birth, and postpartum. It is very easy to be in the position of wanting something so desperately that you think you can go through anything to achieve it – it is a completely different picture when you are in the middle of a pregnancy wondering what is happening to you.

Those who experience disabilities deserve to be treated with respect. They deserve to be validated just as everyone else is on a daily basis as to their sexuality and desires. They do not deserve to be treated as if they should never experience pleasure and be looked upon as less than for wanting to engage in sexual relationships. To completely accept a person with a disability means that they are supported in his or her right to find a partner and marry if they so choose. They need support to have their right to have children. The man or woman may have a disability but that does not change the fact that they have desires and want them met like any other individual on this planet. They deserve the same access to sexual information as the rest of society and having this access will aid them in making wise choices as to their sexual behavior.

It is extremely important that sexual information not be withheld from a person with a disability. If that individual has a question, they deserve an answer and if they want to find it on their own, they should be able to have access to a library to do their own research. The numbers increase daily of those individuals with disabilities that go to public schools and work in the public businesses. Persons with disabilities are educated in the mainstream of society and who has the right to tell them they do not have access to what every other person in society has access too. Library’s now are providing handicapped ramps for those person’s with disabilities and are beginning to equip the inside of the library to meet the needs of those with disabilities. If a disabled person does not have access to appropriate material on sexuality then they could very well be putting their life at risk. If they do not know about the various sexually transmitted diseases and how to be protected, they will engage in high-risk behavior and possibly become infected as well as potentially spreading the disease.

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by KissMeGoodnight.com : 2006

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