Abstract
This paper is about mothering, young learning disabled people, their sexualised and relationship lives and normalisation - not through the lens of the disabled person, but via a mothers perspective and theoretical discussion. As a mother who has a learning disabled daughter, a feminist and an academic, my own mothering experience, my PhD research and social theory are woven throughout this paper with the intention of opening up debate about sex, intimacy, normalisation, and how this impacts upon young learning disabled people. I suggest that the relationship between sex, reproduction, intimacy and intellectual impairment, and a project to decipher what it means to be human, in all its dirty glory are also part of the discourse that needs to be discussed experientially and theoretically. So much so that the messy world within which we all live can be variously and differently constructed.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 63-74 |
Number of pages | 12 |
Journal | Disability and Society |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 1 |
Early online date | 4 Jan 2010 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2010 |
Keywords
- intimacy
- learning disability
- sex
- youth
- normalisation
- mothering