I began my career in East London, over twenty years ago, working in a small residential setting for women with profound intellectual and physical disabilities. However, my very first introduction to the world of intellectual disability was via my uncle, Michael. Mike, as we called him, had an intellectual disability and he and I had a close relationship. Mike was truly inspirational and he was a shining example of a life well lived - my grandmother was very ahead of her time and fostered a sense of independence and confidence in her son from an early age.  He was popular, with a large group of friends and acquaintances, he had a paid, part time job, and he had a long term relationship with a woman that he met at the day service that he attended. Through his social life, his work life and his romantic life, my uncle Mike helped me to see what someone with a disability can achieve given the right set of social, emotional and relational tools.

 

Having worked in the UK for a couple of years, I decided to return to my native Cork to pursue a degree in Social Care (Level 8). Throughout my time in college and after graduation, I worked in various disability settings and encountered several situations whereby the consequence of NOT talking to people with intellectual disabilities about relationships and sexuality became apparent. There was the young man on a work placement who literally tried to kiss his female manager, who was perhaps just 10 years older than him. There was the petite, pretty 19 year old young woman who had never been taught to close the toilet door when using a bathroom cubicle. There was the young woman with an intellectually disability and autism who howled in fright every month when she got her period. These incidents made me realize that the absence of appropriate, developmentally adapted RSE for people with ID at best leaves them distressed and at worst leaves them wide open to potential abuse or even unwittingly becoming a perpetrator themselves. In time, this led me to pursuing a Post. Graduate (Level 9 ) qualification  in Sexuality Education and Sexual Well Being and shortly after successfully graduating, RelateAble was born!