(In)Dependence, Socio-sexual Relationships, and Sexual Health Among Adults with Mild Intellectual Disability (MID): A Critical, Qualitative Exploration
Abstract
The purpose of this critical, qualitative study was to explore how adults with mild intellectual disability navigate independent socio-sexual relationships in settings where they are highly dependent upon caregivers and family members who exert significant control over most aspects of their lives. Data were gathered during one-on-one interviews conducted with adults with MID (n=15), and parental caregivers (n=6). Theoretical insights from critical disability studies and sexual citizenship were used to analyze the findings, which are presented thematically by study population. Participants with MID faced challenges to establishing and maintaining meaningful relationships, including a lack of choice about where and how they interact with others, a lack of privacy for intimacy, and not being afforded adequate knowledge of healthy relationships and sexual health by their caregivers. These challenges were directly shaped by the perspectives of caregivers, who perceived their adult children with MID as being inherently vulnerable and in need of their intervention. Their intervention often took the form of paternalistic practices that curtailed the activities and aspirations related to day-to-day life activities, peer-relationships, and sexuality for the adults with MID. These study findings contribute fresh, compelling insights to this important research, especially in relation to the topics of assumed vulnerability, sexual boundaries, sexual violence, and reproduction among adults with MID. The potential impact of these data on disability policies and practices, particularly those that affect the social, spatial, and sexual health of adults with MID are discussed, and recommendations for policy and advocacy are offered.