Sexuality, Disability, and Reproductive Issues Through the Lifespan

The decade of the 1990s presents an opportunity for America to reflect on the progress that has been made in services, attitudes, and opportunities for people with disabilities. In her book, Sex, Society and the Disabled, Robinault (1978) reminds us that Margaret Mead said, "The character of a culture is judged by the way it treats its disabled. " In the United States we are now implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Margaret Mead would be pleased to judge our culture by our commitment to the ADA. Biology is the determinant of anatomic sex. It is not the determinant of behavioral sex, and the primate learns sexual behavior. More is needed than biology alone--education i fluences the final product of sexual health. How-ever, in animals, sexual behavior is determined neurochemically. It is related to reproduction, which is its final intent. In humans, reproduction and sexual be-havior are not synonymous. Men and women must learn not only about sexu-ality, but they must also learn about sexual relationships. Add to this the need to learn about love, and it becomes apparent that both the tasks and the rewards become complex. Beyond sexual ove is the more generic love for humankind, a noncoital ove involving personal interaction and charm. Historically, disability in the Western world has a grisly past. In earl