Cultures of Consent and Sexuality Among People with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities

In this presentation, I attempt to deconstruct popular understandings of sexuality and consent when it comes to disability communities. Because the asexualization of people with disabilities is a pervasive paradigm, more... [ view full abstract ]

In this presentation, I attempt to deconstruct popular understandings of sexuality and consent when it comes to disability communities. Because the asexualization of people with disabilities is a pervasive paradigm, more complex conversations surrounding consent and sexuality are required in order to understand the axes of power and privilege that exclude disabled people from realms of sexual expression and freedom in the popular conscience. I reference a broad sampling of topics that range from sexual education to consent in institutional settings to non-normative sexual practices and sexual innovation, all with the goal of providing a more critical lens through which to reconstruct notions of sex and sexual relationships as the pertain to people of non-normative and marginalized bodyminds.