basics, okay? (for those who recognize my icon? that is a good example of what NOT to do.)

[fitz_clementine]

So You're Dating Someone With a Mental Illness or Developmental Disability! Or perhaps you Want to Hook Up With Someone Who Might Have Ingested a Mind-Altering Substance Earlier in the Evening!

And you're wondering: can this person, in fact, consent to sexual relations?

The answer is maybe! Ask yourself:

-Is the person unconscious or unresponsive? Do

Comments

[avi_chiara]

there are many issues involved here and in the blog you've linked to, and I can't hope to address them all... but.. perhaps we might start with a definition of "developmentally disabled", and we might need to differentiate between different types of mental illness?

I can't say that I would ever describe you as developmentally disabled or mentally ill... although maybe sometimes drunk.

Do you think there are certain developmental disabilities and/or mental illnesses that would render a person automatically unable to consent to sex?

I don't know about this. Actually I'm fairly confused. Sex is really confusing. I've never experienced non-confusing sex. Sorry.

so many ellipses (ramble) (gosh, sorry, I don't know that this answers anything)

[fitz_clementine]

I can't say that I would ever describe you as developmentally disabled or mentally ill

The problem is that I technically am , according to DSM definitions.* (And...I have spent enough time in environments intended for such people to know that there are a lot who are generally very self-aware and smart and etc. and wouldn't "seem crazy" or disabled or whatever in a casual conversation, at least to someone who didn't know the person had a diagnosis of fill-in-the-blank. But a person like that might still have difficulties that had a serious negative impact on their life, and with which the majority of people do not have to contend...okay, this is another thing that gets really complicated. How do we define these things? Should a person's self-definition be respected over all? Should a doctor's diagnosis be respected over all? Should the opinion of a layperson who thinks they "know it when they see it" be...etc. For example. I know people who say, "There's nothing wrong with me, it's society that's screwed up," which I can respect

Re: so many ellipses (ramble) (gosh, sorry, I don't know that this answers anything)

[avi_chiara]

so... maybe the only safe conclusion here is that umbrella statements are rarely helpful.

hmmm. and that people with developmental disabilities and mental illnesses are... people? Whoa. What a crazy idea.