Intellectual Disability and the Right to a Sexual Life

Dr Simon Foley of QUB Belfast has taught Sociology in various universities throughout the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland over the past 10 years. He has published widely on issues of sexuality, social theory and social change and is an acknowledged international expert on the sociology of disability.

• Introduction, Chapter 1. The who, the what and the why, 1.1. Research Methodology, 1.2. The contested politics of researching disability, 1.3. My Conceptual Framework, 1.4. Ideological affiliations, Chapter 2. The Autonomy/Paternalism Debate, 2.1. Introduction, 2.2 The Autonomy/Paternalism Debate, 2.3 Historical and Cultural Discourses of Sexuality, 2.4 The focus on genital sex explained, 2.5 The dangerous discourse of sexual expression, 2.6 Liberal society and changing sexual mores, 2.7 The parental perspective, 2.8 Facilitated sex, 2.9 Conceptualising disability, 2.10 My conceptual framework, Chapter 3. Research Findings and Analysis: The Parental Perspective, 3.1 Introduction, 3.2 Theme 1: Parental perception of what it means to be normal - the rationale behind the paternalistic regime of care, 3.3 Theme 2: Parental refutation of the charge that their regime of care is to 'blame' for the celibate lives led by some of the adult children with Down syndrome, 3.4 Theme 3: Parental view of their adult sons and daughters with Down syndrome as sexual beings – and the desire that they find a girlfriend/boyfriend, 3.5 Theme 4: The privileging of ‘loving’ boyfriend/girlfriend relationships over sexual expression for its own sake: the gender bias in action, 3.6 Interviews with Adults with Down Syndrome, 3.7 Theme 1: The desire to move out of the parental home, 3.8 Theme 2: The desire to have more control over how their leisure time is spent, 3.9 Theme 3: The role played by the mother as reluctant jailor, 3.10 Theme 4: The desire to have a boyfriend/girlfriend, 3.11 Theme 5: What one does in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship?, 3.12 Theme 6: The desire to be normal – the abject in action, 3.13 Analysis of the Findings, Chapter 4. Third Rail Sexual Politics under Scrutiny: The Question of Faciliated Sex, 4.1 Focus group findings, 4.2 Focus group analysis, Chapter 5. A modest proposal regarding the normalisation of facilitated sex, 5.1 Introduction, 5.2 Ideological Critiques in form and content, 5.3 The Three Faces of Power Debate, 5.4 Conclusion, Chapter 6. Conclusions, References

'This is a provocative and ambitious piece of work that is driven by an unapologetic desire to interrogate assumptions about the common placed infantilisation of Intellectually Disabled adults, particularly those with Down Syndrome, and especially when it comes to genital sex. A stand out strength of this book are the thought provoking and honest narratives that Foley has elicited from his participants; mostly mothers. Furthermore, we hear his voice throughout, as both a researcher pushing the boundaries from the ‘inside’ and as a sibling of an adult sister who has Down Syndrome. His positionality is explicit and forms a nuanced part of the framework. This book will certainly open the debate and prompt a discussion.' - Dr Chrissie Rogers, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Aston University