Specialists and Sexuality of Individuals with Disability

The article is a research report from a study on selected groups of specialists’ attitudes towards sexuality of people with intellectual and physical disabilities. 98 persons, including special educators, social workers, nurses and physiotherapists, completed semantic differentials of the author’s design. The Author’s own research concerned a broader meaning of sexuality taking into account its physical and psychosocial aspects. Sexual behavior, partnerships, contraception and sex education were among the concepts analyzed on the constructed differential. It was concluded that specialist respondents show more consent (stronger acceptance and more positive evaluation) to most aspects of sexuality of physically but not people with intellectual disabilities. Only sterilization is more accepted by them in relation to individuals with intellectual disability.