Doing the wild thing: Supporting an ordinary sexual life for people with intellectual disabilities

Résumé de l'auteur

[Authors' abstract]

For many people who are called disabled, having this label means to be excluded from the experience of 'an ordinary sexual life'. For those who are called intellectually disabled exclusion from experiences of any kind of positive sexual life is almost universal. This article explores how some people with intellectual disabilities have sought to open up pathways towards accessing experiences of sexual expression as a way to move forward towards being able to integrate a concept of sexuality into their lives. Two support workers are interviewed. Both are employed by a Human Services organization in Aotearoa, New Zealand, which provides long term support for people with intellectual disabilities. Their comments reveal that access to successful instances of sexual expression for people in this group are currently only available those who are articulate enough and persistent enough to keep trying until they succeed. Barriers to success are isolated and some wider issues surrounding what changes might positively affect this group are discussed.

Commentaire du Centre Ressources

The document is an article extracted from interviews with professionals working with people who have intellectual disabilities. The aim of the interviews was to seize the way these people express their sexuality and the ways they conceived it, the ways in which an organization working with these people participated in their sexuality. After the description of the results of the interviews, the author proposes several recommendations. Firstly, she recommends the settlement of private spaces in order to allow residents to have sexual intercourses in those places, rather than hiding (for instance in the bathroom, an interviewee reported). Secondly, sexuality education programs should be settled for people who have intellectual disabilities, with professional listening for that matter. Thirdly, access to sex workers should be made possible. Fourthly, the professionals working with these people should be more trained about the informant role concerning sexuality issues. This document is intended to professionals in the field of disability, family relatives of people with disabilities, researchers, associations.

[Commentaire en français] 

Le document est un article issu d’entretiens avec des professionnels travaillant au contact de personnes ayant une déficience intellectuelle. Les entretiens avaient pour objectif de saisir les façons dont ces personnes peuvent s’exprimer au sujet de leur sexualité et les manières dont elles la conçoivent, les façons dont une organisation travaillant auprès de ces personnes participait à leur sexualité. Après la description des résultats issus des entretiens, l’auteure propose plusieurs recommandations. Premièrement, elle préconise la mise en place d’espaces privés afin que les résidents puissent avoir des relations sexuelles dans ces lieux, plutôt que d’avoir à se cacher (par exemple dans les toilettes comme ce fut le cas selon une interviewée). Deuxièmement, des programmes d’éducation à la sexualité devraient être mis en place à destination des personnes ayant une déficience intellectuelle, ainsi qu’une écoute de professionnels à ce sujet. Troisièmement, l’accès à des travailleurs du sexe devrait être rendu possible. Quatrièmement, les professionnels au contact de ces personnes devraient être davantage formés sur un rôle d’informateur sur les questions de la sexualité. Ce document s’adresse aux professionnels du champ du handicap, aux proches familiaux de personnes handicapées, aux chercheurs, aux associations.