Humanity Platform

As people transition through the milestones of life, sexuality shifts and flows with them and it is important to allied health professionals and other support workers to include sexuality in their discussions with their clients as part of the kaleidoscope of life.  My sexual journey, or beginning of my sexuality, reached its first milestone when I was thirteen. The only problem was that the sex education I received at the time didn’t take into account my disability and how that might impact my sexuality.  What I needed at the time was not so much practical support to engage in sexual activity but verbal and emotional support where I could safely talk about my experiences and what the support could look like in the future.  As I got older my desire to safely express my sexuality grew but unfortunately the support and knowledge around sexuality did not grow with me. For example, I engaged both a psychologist and occupational therapist to help me come up with strategies to e...

 When it comes to mental health many people still struggle to have the conversations. RU OK Day 2023 gives everyone the perfect opportunity to let someone know that you are here to hear.  RU OK Day gives everyone the opportunity to ask if you’re okay, listen to the answer, encourage someone struggling with mental health to take action, and to check in.  In my personal mental health journey people have sometimes been reluctant to ask if I was okay because they saw my disability as an obvious sign that I’m not okay. Even medical professionals dismiss my mental health and depression for far too long because ‘of course my cerebral palsy must make me depressed’.  It is important when working in the disability space to treat mental health and physical disability separately.  Anecdotal evidence does suggest that 1 in 2 people with a physical disability will experience mental health struggles in their lifetime but it is important to not make an assumption and never be a...