Sunday evening I went to see the movie The Sessions with a couple friends. It is an incredible movie that touches you yet at the same time makes you think. The main theme of the movie is sexuality and disability, and it also brings in Catholicism. I think a PhD could be undertaken on the movie alone as highlights a whole host of issues surrounding each of these themes. These issues range from competence of support workers, privacy, the extra effort people with disabilities have to face on a daily base to achieve, the need for hugs (I definitely needed one after the movie), mentoring, the roles of the church to companionship of a pet. I could go on and on naming all the kinds of issues.
On Monday morning, Life Matters interview Cheryl Cohen Greene, who Helen Hunt played in the movie, discussing her career as a professional sex surrogate. Listening to her on the podcast I thought Helen Hunt portrayed Cheryl very well with the same energy about her. One of the things that stood out, and one that I have been thinking on recently, is the need for education about sex. Many of us are told growing up that “it will come to you when you can it and you will figure out.” This assumes that is good communication, a willingness/ability to explore and at least one partner having experience. We, people with disabilities, are provided to some degree the training and resources to live as independently as possible and for pursuing an occupation of some sort, yet when it comes to sexuality and relationships we are left to our own devices in most cases. This leaves me questioning, could such education improve peoples’ lives?