Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

The Impact Of Traumatic Brain Injury On Sexuality And The Importance Of Rehabilitation Strategies

Excerpt from: Medical News Today (click for full article)

 

Each year more than three million Americans are living with traumatic brain injury (TBI), a condition that is associated with physical, cognitive, and emotional problems that often affect their sexuality, and subsequently their marital stability, identity, and self-esteem. Taking an in-depth look at the impact of TBI on sexuality, an investigative team critically reviews fourteen studies representing a collective study sample of nearly 1,500 patients, partners, spouses, control individuals, and rehabilitation professionals to examine brain injury and sexuality. It is published in NeuroRehabilitation: An International Journal.

"Sexuality in patients with chronic disease or physical handicaps warrants attention and consideration so that effective intervention plans can be formulated. A healthy sex life may decrease muscular and emotional tension, increase pain threshold, reduce physical stress, improve sleep, and diminish emotional stress within relationships," says Jhon Alexander Moreno, doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychology at Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada. He has made this important issue the central topic of his research work, which is conducted under the international direction of Professors Michelle McKerral at the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Rehabilitation in Montréal, and Juan Carlos Arango Lasprilla from the University of Deusto, Spain, in collaboration with Caron Gan from Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital in Toronto, Canada. "A lack of information and education on sexuality and disability is a major contributing factor towards the stigma attached to them."

ArtPrize 2012 prize-winning artist blogs on Huffington Post and disabilities and art

Excerpt from: MLive (click for full article)

 

Huffington Post has brought an ArtPrize artist’s work to the wider world, much as ArtPrize 2012 gave photographer Robert Andy Coombs the platform to explore physical disabilities and sexuality.

Coombs’ blog “The Stuff No One Talks About” appeared Wednesday on Huffington Post Arts & Culture page online.

In Coombs case, the stuff not discussed is the fact that people with disabilities are unusual. Coombs knows this first hand after he was disabled in a gymnastics accident in 2009 that left him paralyzed from the shoulders down.

His Huffington Post blog, the second of three, begins:

“I can't really blame people for the way they react to me sometimes. I know people are curious. I can understand how it could be a little jarring to be dancing in a club and then turn to see someone in a wheelchair. Before my accident, I can't say that I wouldn't have felt the exact same way.”

But people with disabilities also have the same needs, which was the subject of his ArtPrize 2012 prize-winning photography series.

“Despite being disabled, we are still human and have sexual needs and desires,” he said.

Sex: what do people with Aspergers need to know?

Excerpt from: Autism Support Network (click for full article)

 

Asperger syndrome is by its nature an isolating condition. I have spoken on this in my books and in this blog. Because of social isolation, we may not have the frequent, recurring contact with potential partners that neurotypicals might enjoy. We are not even adept at flirting, the most basic step in the romance dance. I have spent much of my adult life single. While I have often chosen partners out of convenience, desperation and extreme loneliness, I have now finally achieved a healthy relationship with someone who is both good for me and as far as I can tell, compatible. But it was not easy getting here. My teenage years were fraught with sexual mistakes including statutory rape and other dating fiascos...if you could call it dating. From what I know of my peers, dating is not something we with Aspergers like to do. We tend to meet and mate too quickly or not at all. We want to have good relationships, we just don't know how to go about getting one.

Hollywood Tackles Sex And Disability

Excerpt from: Planet of the Blind (click for full article)

 

The award-winning The Sessions, which opens in the UK on 18 January, is one of the first Hollywood films to explore the subject of a disabled person losing his virginity. The film follows the real-life story of the American poet Mark O'Brien – a polio survivor who uses an iron lung. At 38 years old he sought the help of a sex surrogate, someone who helps people with sexual problems explore their bodies, played by Helen Hunt.

The film, which won the Special Jury Prize and Audience Award at the Sundance festival this year, is written and directed by a polio survivor, Ben Lewin, but is based on the late O'Brien's account of his own story. "I was taken by the frankness and explicitness of it -- which is rarely associated with discussions of sex," Lewin said. "When I was a kid, we didn't talk about sex and disability. I get the impression people are more open-minded now. There is an interesting disability-chic movement, and a number of movies looking at similar themes."

One of these was this year's Untouchable, which tells the story of a quadriplegic and his carer, who encourages him to pursue love. And Rust & Bone, which won the top prize at the London Film Festival, stars Cotillard as a double amputee who embarks on a sexual relationship.

Unraveling myths of dating someone with a disability

Excerpt from: The Calgary Journal (click for full article)

 

Maria Barile, an advocate for women with disabilities, lives with what she calls "three impairments", and knows about the many misconceptions involving people with disabilities and their romantic/sexual relationships.

"When I got to university, the reverse was happening," she remembers. "There were courses taught at school about sexuality, but there was nothing about people with disabilities."

She says she became an activist because of the fact that her own experience was never reflected back in her studies. While academics focused on women's issues, sexuality issues, or disability issues, the three were never linked together.

Disability is sexy (and other useful tips)

Excerpt from: ABC Online (click for full article)

Warning: this piece contains sexual content

Accessible unconventional sensual exploration is a complicated business for far too many Deaf and disabled people. Are we getting what we want? Kath Duncan says she is...

Tip no.1: Air your sexuality in public.

Tip no.2: be open minded and curious.

Tip no.3: Hang with progressives, artists and cultural producers of all kinds.

Tip no.3: Hang with progressives, artists and cultural producers of all kinds.

Tip no.6: Be a lover, not a hater.

Tip no.5: Seek out pleasure.

Tip no.6: Be a lover, not a hater.