Sex Education and Disability

Disabled people need sex education that is comprehensive, tailored to different learning styles and abilities, and representative of diverse experiences. In this episode of the Disability Visibility Project, host Alice Wong speaks with Julia Bascom and Robin Wilson-Beattie. Julia Bascom is the former Executive Director for the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network (ASAN). Robin Wilson-Beattie is a disability and sexuality educator, writer, and activist.

In this interview, Julia and Robin discuss the Real Talk project. Real Talk (Real Talk: Conversations and resources about sexuality for young people with disabilities and sexual health providers) is a project of ASAN and the National Council of Independent Living (NICL). It creates resources that aid health care providers in navigating sexuality with patients with disabilities. This is important because disabled people face ableist assumptions. Too often, doctors, family members, and caregivers assume that disabled people aren’t sexual, and that they can’t comprehend sex and sexuality. As a result, disabled people are often denied the right to sex and the right to pleasure. Their legal guardians may even seek to control how they express their sexualities and genders.

Robin Wilson-Beattie shares her experience of becoming a sex educator after acquiring a physical disability. Robin emphasizes that sex ed should focus on pleasure and healthy relationships. However, attendants and caregivers can be barriers to sex and pleasure.

Both Julia and Robin highlight that disabled people should be free to experience sex and sexuality for themselves. This begins with inclusive, accessible, and comprehensive sex education. The role of friends, families, guardians, and caregivers is to support them.

I think obviously, there’s this idea that we aren’t sexual or that no one could be attracted to us or that, if we have a cognitive disability, that must mean we can’t give consent or we shouldn’t be parents. Often, because of these ideas, people—especially people with intellectual and developmental disabilities—just aren’t given any sex education.

SOURCE: Disability Visibility Project • AUTHOR: Alice Wong, Julia Bascom, and Robin Wilson-Beattie • LAST UPDATED: December 3, 2018