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Sex

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There are a lot of myths surrounding sexuality and disability. In this section, we help you bust these, and talk about various aspects of your sexuality. This includes your sexual orientation, and how you can safely have sex – either with yourself, or others. We also explore sexual confidence and how you can talk about sex with other people.

In the centre of the image, a person with short hair and long earrings sits on an armchair reading an Anne Lamott book. Behind them, the walls are lined with shelves of colourful books, a lamp, plants and a painting

Mythbusting

Sexuality is often equated with just sex. Actually, it’s much broader and also encompassesgender identities and roles.

A person with short brown hair, wearing a striped top, holds up a rose and looks to the side with a smile on their face. They are sitting in a wheelchair. In the background, the headboard of a bed, an open window through which we see the moon and stars, and patterned wallpaper.

Being sexual

It surprised me when I realised [after my accident] that I could still get turned on. Since I don’t have any feeling down there

A person dressed in a blue floral gown gazes into their phone, its glow reflected on their face. They have a laptop propped up on their leg, and are sitting on a couch, with a side-table next to them and a painting on the wall.

Sex with yourself

‘Masturbation can be tangible proof that you can feel pleasure in your body or your mind, and that you can be an

In a room with a red wall, a person with their back to us is looking at their own face in a handheld mirror. To their left, some clothes hang on a hanger, and to their right there are fairy lights and a picture of their face, which looks melancholy.

Sexual confidence

When I am with a new lover I need to go really slow, moving from kissing to sensual touch to maybe penetration.

Two people sit on a bench in a park and face each other

Talking about sex

They say sex is a lot about communication. If this is true, my disability does force me to talk to my partners much more

Two people lie together on a bed with a yellow patterned cover. One looks into the distance, the other rests their head gently on the first person’s shoulder, eyes closed. They share a pair of earphones, connected to a laptop placed beside them.

Sex with others

In most movies they make sex look so clean and controlled, it makes me realize how much I’m not represented in what I see in the world.’

4 people stand against a red background. One has a thought bubble with a couple in it, the other a thought bubble with a neck belt the third and forth stand together with a thought bubble of a condom

Keeping it safe

I am not in a support group at the moment but I would love to be in one, meet others like me and learn from them.

Two people are kissing on a balcony. Their eyes are closed and they are holding each other. Behind them, we see a purple wall, a string of lights and a clothes line, and to the left there is a full moon and a tree

Sexual orientation

On one hand, as queers, we are perverse, immoral, depraved, shaped as oversexed child molesters or as invisible creatures