This is particularly true when the adolescent is female. Yet, when an adolescent female has a disability, the increased protectiveness of her parents may be accompanied by a tendency to treat her as if she were asexual, still a little girl. Thus, parents of a young women with a disability should give serious thought to the messages they send their adolescent daughter about her sexuality. Some people assume that if you are disabled, you can't have a social life or a sex life. This reflects one's own fears that unless one looks terrific physically, he or she will not be wanted.
Many parents find it difficult to talk frankly with their children about issues of sexuality.
Here are some suggestions for dealing with this stressful time in your daughter's, and your, life. Realize that your daughter's physical development will be accompanied by the same sexual feelings and needs that all adolescents feel. You have no more control over the emergence of these feelings than she does. Don't restrict your daughter's social activities, in the hope that this will negate her sexuality. Be aware that, legally, you will not be your child's guardian forever.