Research Projects

While it is normative for non-disabled people to desire and be in intimate relationships, the same expectation often does not apply to people with intellectual disabilities. Due to infantilization and de-sexualization, people with intellectual disabilities are commonly assumed to lack romantic and sexual desires. Also, the intersection of disability and sexuality remains a taboo topic. As a response to these silences, my research program has focused predominantly on the sexualities and intimate citizenship of disabled people.

My research agenda engages with the sociologies of gender and sexualities and critical disability studies, as well as their intersections, to theorize and empirically examine the perspectives, challenges, and triumphs of disabled people concerning sexuality. More importantly, my research makes space for disabled people to share their own experiences with love and intimacy, contributing to emerging the literature that is finally listening to disabled people themselves.

I am currently involved in a variety of research projects, such as:

• The Intimate Lives of 2SLGBTQ+ Adults Labeled/with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities in Alberta, Canada

• Are We Allowed to be Feminists Too: Women Labeled/with Intellectual Disabilities and Their Views on Feminism(s)

• The Experiences of Adults Labeled/with Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities when Navigating Digital Sexual Fields

• Tackling the Taboo: The Perceptions and Attitudes of Undergraduate Students in Health-Related Fields on the Sexuality of Disabled People

• Opportunities for Digital Sexual Health for Adults Labeled/with Intellectual Disabilities