It seems there are many debates to be had regarding disabled people, sex and the role of social care professionals.
There was a great debate on CareSpace last year about whether disabled people should be able to use their personal budget on a sex worker.
These issues need further discussion and I'm glad that The Royal Society of Medicine will be running a conference in November called Disability: Sex, relationships and pleasure.
Dr Petra Boynton, one of the speakers at the event, explains in her blog:
These issues need further discussion and I'm glad that The Royal Society of Medicine will be running a conference in November called Disability: Sex, relationships and pleasure.
Dr Petra Boynton, one of the speakers at the event, explains in her blog:
Frequently people working in health or social care who have disabled clients are unsure what to do in relation to sex and relationships issue. Relationships may be discouraged, sexuality overlooked, sexual pleasure ignored and sexual rights compromised. Healthcare providers may assume their disabled clients are not sexual, or won't be able to experience pleasure, or be too worried about criticism or legal repercussions to offer support which might range from providing a sex toy or a sex surrogate.
Even Medical Science seems conflicted in its opinion about sex and its nature and its benefits, although certainly much less than in prior centuries in modern Western social history.
The first question we must ask ourselves is what do we think about the nature of sex.
Is it a benefit or a slippery slope into trauma? Some Child and Adolescent Psychiatrists would say it's both, depending upon the individual.
What do YOU say?
Share it with us?
I don't think it's a slippery slope into trauma...i think it's a fairly basic human function
a better and safer alternative would be for disabled people to buy sex toys which have been specifically designed with this in mind. this is also cheaper in the long run.
It a basic human need and is healthy as long as it does not interfere with other activities or become an obsession. This may aid in relieving a lot of depression also.