Sexual attitudes and self-reported behavior of congenitally disabled adults.

Abstract
The sexual behavior and attitudes of congenitally physically disabled young human adults ranging in age from 18-35 were studied. A 1-3 h personal interview was conducted with 45 subjects and a questionnaire was administered to each subject during the interview. The questionnaire dealt with such matters as attitudes towards pornography, masturbation and other aspects of sexuality; the degree of each disabled adult''s personal interest in sex; and the extent and form of subjects'' intimate sexual behavior. While this group of disabled young adults tended to express liberal attitudes towards sexuality, they did not indicate a high degree of personal interest in sex. Nearly all of the adults studied were unmarried, and over half had never had a serious relationship with the opposite sex, or any kind of intimate sexual experience. Many of the subjects were apparently quite uninformed about sexual matters. The handicapped adults generally expressed negative attitudes towards sex which could be attributed to restrictive living conditions and insufficient sex education and guidance. The need for a general reorientation on the part of parents, educators and society in general, towards recognizing and accepting the emotional and sexual needs of disabled persons was discussed.

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