Relationships and Disability

I was watching “The Jeff Probst Show” this past Monday and he was talking to Deborah Ann Woll from the HBO series “True Blood”.  Her boyfriend happens to be legally blind because of a rare condition called Choroideremia.  What I happened to find most interesting about the interview was that they were talking about the modified dates they have been on because things like the sun are painful to her boyfriend’s eyes and can actually speed up his vision loss.

No matter what a person’s disability is, they have a right to have relationships with the opposite sex if they so choose.  There might be some impact on the non-disabled person’s life but depending on the disability, this is not always the case.  Also, if they love each other or really like each other it shouldn’t matter either way. 

It was also interesting to me that during the interview, Deborah’s boyfriend (his name is E.J.) said that while he was trying to date people, some were bothered by his disability.  Unfortunately, I know firsthand, from past experience, that some people can not handle dating someone who has a disability.  In the long run, it is the person with out the disability who misses out, not the other way around. 

As I was thinking about this, I can’t say that one gender is more likely to date a disabled person than the other.  I just really think it depends on the person’s personality and their experiences that would make them more or less likely to be open to dating someone with a disability. 

All in all, relationships can be complicated enough.  People should not start out from the beginning with the attitude that things cannot work out with someone who is disabled, (or really vice versa for those who have a disability that are a little leery on dating someone who isn’t disabled.) just because they may have to do things a bit differently with that person.  If they are interested in dating one another, they should just have an open mind about it and see how it works out.

Why is it that when you mention the words “dating” and “disability” in the same sentence, the topic seems so out of the ordinary to some people?

Thanks for reading..

cr