Disabilities, sex and self-love

When you want support through something scary or rough, and help pulling yourself together and getting through, this is the place.
Forum rules
We ask that users looking for general, ongoing emotional support post in this area of the boards, and that you use this space to both ask for, give and receive that support primarily from each other, rather than from our staff and volunteers. As a staff, we simply are often too overextended with all we need to do in running the organization and its services to do that for extended periods of time, and one of our main aims of our community at the boards has always been to facilitate peers to better be there for each other.

Users often report that they have no in-person peers they can talk to or seek support from: we want this to be a space for online peer support and somewhere everyone can get some practice asking for, getting and giving support so that doing it with people in your lives feels more doable.

Please remember that neither staff, volunteers nor your fellow users can provide or replace mental healthcare when that is something you need. Users struggling with issues like anxiety, depression, abuse or physical health issues are strongly encouraged to seek out qualified, in-person help with those issues in addition to peer or staff support.
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic
AliahMaharaj
scarleteen staff/volunteer
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Jun 10, 2024 11:09 am
Age: 19
Awesomeness Quotient: My wit and sense of humour
Primary language: English
Pronouns: she/her, he/him or they/them
Sexual identity: Bisexual, aromantic, demigirl
Location: Trinidad and Tobago

Disabilities, sex and self-love

Unread post by AliahMaharaj »

Hey everyone! This post is an opportunity to have an open, honest conversation about how the disabilities many of us have affect our sexual experiences, our day-to-day lives, our relationships with ourselves and each other, and anything in between!

Regardless of what disabilities you have, if you feel comfortable sharing any of your experiences, you can do so here with absolutely no judgement. I want this to be a way we can validate and support each other, as well as a reminder that the feelings and experiences that come with being disabled aren’t something we need to hide or be ashamed of.

I’ll start:

As someone with cerebral palsy, I have to depend on other people for help moving from place to place, and I practice moving around with a cane as well. This can lead to me feeling out of control when it comes to my body, like it doesn’t fully belong to me. This was especially difficult for me when I was a high school student, and needed to have an aid on the campus at all times to help me go anywhere.

I only realized recently that, after I finished high school and started figuring out my relationship to sex, that feeling of not having control of my body became much less overwhelming. For me, sex (specifically masturbation) helped me learn to love being in my body. Being able to make myself feel pleasure was a reminder that my body is mine and mine alone, and it doesn’t have to be a reminder of my physical limitations, it can be something that makes me happy and that I’m proud of.

I’d love to hear from anyone who wants to join the conversation!
Top
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Supporting Each Other”