A Quick and Easy Guide to Sex & Disability

March 16, 2020
Andrews, a web cartoonist and “totally complete, incomplete paraplegic,” makes their print debut with this upbeat and informative graphic guidebook. Designed to assist both disabled persons and their partners, the guide, with Andrews as its narrator, coaches readers through basic and intermediate tips on improving sex lives for those with disabilities, conveyed invitingly through bright cartoons reminiscent of Lane Smith’s, which depict a wealth of different and non-normative body types. Though the spatial limitations and aims of the “quick and easy” structure inevitably lead to oversimplifications (the half-page primer on gender and sexuality spectra theory, for instance), Andrews dives in with a frank and enthusiastic tone (“let’s talk spasticity!) and wields the slim page count efficiently with canny, appropriately explicit visuals, such as when laying out a variety of ways to use furniture to make sex more physically comfortable. Sections on handling incontinence during intercourse and the need for communication with personal care attendants and asides educating nondisabled readers on ableist microaggressions are particularly well-done—though Andrews lingers longer than needed on well-trodden topics like communication and sex toys. This is a valuable resource for readers seeking to make pleasure accessible.

May 1, 2020

DEBUT Sex is one of the defining experiencing of human life that nurtures and enriches the soul. So why shouldn't those with disabilities get in on all that loving? Debut cartoonist Andrews brings his personal experience to this very discussion, drawing his own persona as the narrator of this slim guide discussing questions about enjoying sex as a disabled person. Zeroing in on core emotional issues, he dispels myths about disabled bodies, an addresses the need for communication, dealing with sexual rejection based on one's disability, preparing for sex with comfort and ease in mind, considering thoughtful positions desired for pleasure, and the use of toys. VERDICT This fun and informative guide, with clean, expressive art, delivers body positivity messages and nonmedical advice with a sense of mischievous, contagious fun. Rather than dwell on physical restrictions, the central thrust is showing what can be done, making sex with disability a experience worth pursuing.--Douglas Rednour, Georgia State Univ. Libs., Atlanta

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2020
Grades 9-12 This inclusive and comprehensive guide to disability-friendly sex education opens with the idea that disabled people have sex, dispelling the commonly held myth that they are nonsexual. Andrews addresses readers directly as a queer, paraplegic cartoonist, utilizing colorful illustrations and conversational dialogue to introduce ways of talking about and having more enjoyable sex. Their inclusive cartoons are in sync with the educational content, illustrating a wide range of bodies and disabilities?of people at the intersections of multiple marginalized identities?engaged in physical and emotional intimacy. While the beginning takes care to include chronic illness, neurodivergence, intellectual disabilities, and mental illness, the bulk of advice seems focused on physical disabilities?both visible and invisible. A friendly, if educational, tone guides readers through safe sex, consent, pleasure, recovering from sexual violence and trauma, body image, communication, self-care, accessibility, and sex toys and equipment, plus interactive guides to help readers practice the concepts. An important resource for both disabled people and allies that bridges gaps left in traditional sex education.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)