In this article, we discuss practical lessons for promoting meaningful collaboration in inclusive... more In this article, we discuss practical lessons for promoting meaningful collaboration in inclusive and community-based participatory gender and sexualities research with LGBTQ+ people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. First, we describe the historical and ongoing exclusion from research engagement of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and the importance of including LGBTQ+ people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in inclusive and community-based research projects that address gender and sexuality. Then, we provide reflections on how we are striving to embrace core principles of community-based participatory research in our current gender and sexualities research projects. Finally, we end with a call to action for future meaningful and collaborative research that addresses gender and sexuality in the lives of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.
The papers in this special issue build on an exciting, and fast growing, body of scholarship loca... more The papers in this special issue build on an exciting, and fast growing, body of scholarship located at the intersection of critical disability studies and critical animal studies, shedding light on disablism and speciesism1 as interconnecting oppressions, how animality and disability are mutually constitutive, as well as the tensions and coalitions shared by these two related fields (see, for example, Jenkins, Montford & Taylor, 2020; Nocella II, George & Schatz, 2017; Taylor, 2013, 2017).
This special issue of the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies brings together 19 articles by s... more This special issue of the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies brings together 19 articles by scholars and activists across broad academic disciplines and activist communities— from disability studies to inclusive education, early childhood education, decolonial studies, feminist anti-violence organizing, community health and more—as well as geopolitical locations.
It has been suggested that disabled people may experience higher rates of sexually transmitted in... more It has been suggested that disabled people may experience higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STI) due to health inequities and sexual education gaps. Using a pan-Canadian health survey, we sought to explore the association with disability and STI. Using the public use microdata file for the 2013–2014 cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (Statistics Canada), the association between disability and STI was explored. Modelling included adjustment for age, ethnicity, geography, living arrangement, educational status, and marital status. Results were stratified for females and males, disability severity, and type. Both females (odds ratio [OR] 1.54, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.27–1.86) and males (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.03–1.62) with any impairments were more likely to report a diagnosis of STI. A graduated effect was seen, with the odds increasing as the severity of disability increased. Females with severe visual impairment (OR 6.88, 95% CI 2.13–22.17) had the high...
People labeled/with intellectual disabilities are rarely given the opportunity to “speak” about t... more People labeled/with intellectual disabilities are rarely given the opportunity to “speak” about their sexual and romantic experiences on their own behalf. Persisting stereotypes and (over)protectionism sometimes serve as social mechanisms that silence disabled people in knowledge creation. Although further protections need to be implemented, people labeled/with intellectual disabilities must have an opportunity to share their perspectives and experiences with love and intimacy. This research note discusses some of the “ethically important moments” I have encountered as a researcher looking at the romantic and sexual lives of adults labeled/with intellectual disabilities, as well as how my embodied experience in the field led me to reflect on my own positionality as a researcher and sexual being.
Drawing on interviews with 46 adults with intellectual disabilities in Ontario, Canada, this arti... more Drawing on interviews with 46 adults with intellectual disabilities in Ontario, Canada, this article suggests a different starting point in understanding the constraints that limit which sexual fields are available to people with intellectual disabilities. Because of surveillance, infantilisation and control, people with intellectual disabilities sometimes have to claim and convert other spaces such as day programmes, group homes and other residential settings into sexual fields. Without understanding these experiences, we may not recognise these intellectual disability sexual fields as settings for the pursuit of intimacy and love. These are valuable insights that bring into view how some marginalised sexual actors may covert social fields into sexual fields as a means of responding to lack of access to and exclusion from mainstream sexual fields.
Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace
This exploratory qualitative study analyzes narratives to understand how adults with intellectual... more This exploratory qualitative study analyzes narratives to understand how adults with intellectual disabilities navigate the digital sexual fields available to them, given the barriers and constraints in their lives. There is a paucity of research that has looked at the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities when navigating digital sexual fields in their pursuit of romance and partnership. This paper draws on a larger qualitative inquiry with adults with intellectual disabilities (n = 46) in Ontario, Canada, focused on their romantic and sexual lives. In all, 15 participants discussed their views on and participation in a variety of dating websites and mobile applications. Their experiences of digital sexual fields were analyzed. This study uses a sexual fields framework informed by Bourdieusian field theory to explore how participants negotiate these digital spaces, whether and how they choose to disclose their disability status, how they manage their self-presentation...
The Routledge Handbook of Disability Activism, 2019
This chapter presents research and activist work advocating for the sexual rights of disabled peo... more This chapter presents research and activist work advocating for the sexual rights of disabled people. The romantic and intimate lives of disabled people have been marked by a history of oppression, abuse and de-sexualisation. State-sanctioned sterilisations of people with disabilities and the numerous eugenic movements associated with practices serve as the most overt and inhumane examples of how negative attitudes become reified into social policy. The variety of the initiatives exemplifies the richness and diversity of disability- sexuality activism and illustrates some of the ways that disabled people are advocating for and claiming intimate citizenship and socio-sexual rights. Disability activists have done the critical work of subverting the taboo and stigma commonly associated with disability and sexuality; and they have turned the conversation towards desiring disability. The sexual lives of disabled people have the potential to challenge dominant cultural ideas of what constitutes sex.
Wir diskutieren kritisch, wie Praxen der ethischen Begutachtung und Regulierung durch universitar... more Wir diskutieren kritisch, wie Praxen der ethischen Begutachtung und Regulierung durch universitare Ethikkommissionen Diskurse von Vulnerabilitat und Protektionismus reproduzieren, die dazu beitragen, Personen, die als geistig beeintrachtigt gelabelt werden, verstummen zu lassen. Behindernde Zuschreibungen uber (Un-) Fahigkeit sowie ein reduktives bio-medizinisches Verstandnis der gelabelten Personen als homogene Gruppe fuhren zu der Einschatzung, die Forschungen seien "zu riskant" und ihr Wert wurde die potenziellen Risiken nicht aufwiegen. Personen werden als "zu verletztlich" oder "zu naiv" wahrgenommen, um in der Lage zu sein, uber ihre Teilnahme an Forschung entscheiden zu konnen, ohne sich selbst oder die Forschenden in Gefahr zu bringen. In diesem Beitrag legen wir unsere Erfahrungen mit forschungsethischen Begutachtungen von Projekten dar, in denen das intime Leben von Menschen mit geistiger Behinderung erforscht werden sollte. Wir kommen zu dem ...
This exploratory study examined the attitudes and experiences of a small sample of direct care wo... more This exploratory study examined the attitudes and experiences of a small sample of direct care workers' experiences of addressing the sexual expression and practices of their clients with intellectual disabilities. Drawing on in-depth interviews with direct care workers in Alberta, Canada, we use Foucault's work to examine the way power is exercised through organizational policies, personal values, and employment contexts. Altogether, the accounts of direct care workers seem to illuminate a culture that commonly sees disability and sexuality as antithetical and a topic to be avoided for fear of reprisal.
In this article, we discuss practical lessons for promoting meaningful collaboration in inclusive... more In this article, we discuss practical lessons for promoting meaningful collaboration in inclusive and community-based participatory gender and sexualities research with LGBTQ+ people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. First, we describe the historical and ongoing exclusion from research engagement of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities and the importance of including LGBTQ+ people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities in inclusive and community-based research projects that address gender and sexuality. Then, we provide reflections on how we are striving to embrace core principles of community-based participatory research in our current gender and sexualities research projects. Finally, we end with a call to action for future meaningful and collaborative research that addresses gender and sexuality in the lives of people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.
The papers in this special issue build on an exciting, and fast growing, body of scholarship loca... more The papers in this special issue build on an exciting, and fast growing, body of scholarship located at the intersection of critical disability studies and critical animal studies, shedding light on disablism and speciesism1 as interconnecting oppressions, how animality and disability are mutually constitutive, as well as the tensions and coalitions shared by these two related fields (see, for example, Jenkins, Montford & Taylor, 2020; Nocella II, George & Schatz, 2017; Taylor, 2013, 2017).
This special issue of the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies brings together 19 articles by s... more This special issue of the Canadian Journal of Disability Studies brings together 19 articles by scholars and activists across broad academic disciplines and activist communities— from disability studies to inclusive education, early childhood education, decolonial studies, feminist anti-violence organizing, community health and more—as well as geopolitical locations.
It has been suggested that disabled people may experience higher rates of sexually transmitted in... more It has been suggested that disabled people may experience higher rates of sexually transmitted infections (STI) due to health inequities and sexual education gaps. Using a pan-Canadian health survey, we sought to explore the association with disability and STI. Using the public use microdata file for the 2013–2014 cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey (Statistics Canada), the association between disability and STI was explored. Modelling included adjustment for age, ethnicity, geography, living arrangement, educational status, and marital status. Results were stratified for females and males, disability severity, and type. Both females (odds ratio [OR] 1.54, 95% confidence intervals [CI] 1.27–1.86) and males (OR 1.29, 95% CI 1.03–1.62) with any impairments were more likely to report a diagnosis of STI. A graduated effect was seen, with the odds increasing as the severity of disability increased. Females with severe visual impairment (OR 6.88, 95% CI 2.13–22.17) had the high...
People labeled/with intellectual disabilities are rarely given the opportunity to “speak” about t... more People labeled/with intellectual disabilities are rarely given the opportunity to “speak” about their sexual and romantic experiences on their own behalf. Persisting stereotypes and (over)protectionism sometimes serve as social mechanisms that silence disabled people in knowledge creation. Although further protections need to be implemented, people labeled/with intellectual disabilities must have an opportunity to share their perspectives and experiences with love and intimacy. This research note discusses some of the “ethically important moments” I have encountered as a researcher looking at the romantic and sexual lives of adults labeled/with intellectual disabilities, as well as how my embodied experience in the field led me to reflect on my own positionality as a researcher and sexual being.
Drawing on interviews with 46 adults with intellectual disabilities in Ontario, Canada, this arti... more Drawing on interviews with 46 adults with intellectual disabilities in Ontario, Canada, this article suggests a different starting point in understanding the constraints that limit which sexual fields are available to people with intellectual disabilities. Because of surveillance, infantilisation and control, people with intellectual disabilities sometimes have to claim and convert other spaces such as day programmes, group homes and other residential settings into sexual fields. Without understanding these experiences, we may not recognise these intellectual disability sexual fields as settings for the pursuit of intimacy and love. These are valuable insights that bring into view how some marginalised sexual actors may covert social fields into sexual fields as a means of responding to lack of access to and exclusion from mainstream sexual fields.
Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace
This exploratory qualitative study analyzes narratives to understand how adults with intellectual... more This exploratory qualitative study analyzes narratives to understand how adults with intellectual disabilities navigate the digital sexual fields available to them, given the barriers and constraints in their lives. There is a paucity of research that has looked at the experiences of people with intellectual disabilities when navigating digital sexual fields in their pursuit of romance and partnership. This paper draws on a larger qualitative inquiry with adults with intellectual disabilities (n = 46) in Ontario, Canada, focused on their romantic and sexual lives. In all, 15 participants discussed their views on and participation in a variety of dating websites and mobile applications. Their experiences of digital sexual fields were analyzed. This study uses a sexual fields framework informed by Bourdieusian field theory to explore how participants negotiate these digital spaces, whether and how they choose to disclose their disability status, how they manage their self-presentation...
The Routledge Handbook of Disability Activism, 2019
This chapter presents research and activist work advocating for the sexual rights of disabled peo... more This chapter presents research and activist work advocating for the sexual rights of disabled people. The romantic and intimate lives of disabled people have been marked by a history of oppression, abuse and de-sexualisation. State-sanctioned sterilisations of people with disabilities and the numerous eugenic movements associated with practices serve as the most overt and inhumane examples of how negative attitudes become reified into social policy. The variety of the initiatives exemplifies the richness and diversity of disability- sexuality activism and illustrates some of the ways that disabled people are advocating for and claiming intimate citizenship and socio-sexual rights. Disability activists have done the critical work of subverting the taboo and stigma commonly associated with disability and sexuality; and they have turned the conversation towards desiring disability. The sexual lives of disabled people have the potential to challenge dominant cultural ideas of what constitutes sex.
Wir diskutieren kritisch, wie Praxen der ethischen Begutachtung und Regulierung durch universitar... more Wir diskutieren kritisch, wie Praxen der ethischen Begutachtung und Regulierung durch universitare Ethikkommissionen Diskurse von Vulnerabilitat und Protektionismus reproduzieren, die dazu beitragen, Personen, die als geistig beeintrachtigt gelabelt werden, verstummen zu lassen. Behindernde Zuschreibungen uber (Un-) Fahigkeit sowie ein reduktives bio-medizinisches Verstandnis der gelabelten Personen als homogene Gruppe fuhren zu der Einschatzung, die Forschungen seien "zu riskant" und ihr Wert wurde die potenziellen Risiken nicht aufwiegen. Personen werden als "zu verletztlich" oder "zu naiv" wahrgenommen, um in der Lage zu sein, uber ihre Teilnahme an Forschung entscheiden zu konnen, ohne sich selbst oder die Forschenden in Gefahr zu bringen. In diesem Beitrag legen wir unsere Erfahrungen mit forschungsethischen Begutachtungen von Projekten dar, in denen das intime Leben von Menschen mit geistiger Behinderung erforscht werden sollte. Wir kommen zu dem ...
This exploratory study examined the attitudes and experiences of a small sample of direct care wo... more This exploratory study examined the attitudes and experiences of a small sample of direct care workers' experiences of addressing the sexual expression and practices of their clients with intellectual disabilities. Drawing on in-depth interviews with direct care workers in Alberta, Canada, we use Foucault's work to examine the way power is exercised through organizational policies, personal values, and employment contexts. Altogether, the accounts of direct care workers seem to illuminate a culture that commonly sees disability and sexuality as antithetical and a topic to be avoided for fear of reprisal.
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Papers by Alan Martino