Dating With a Disability

Even though I eventually got lucky with my boyfriend (who I’ve now been with for 3 years), the dating scene was intimidating for me through all of my teen years and throughout college.

I used to consistently doubt that I’d even ever find someone to be with because I thought, “who’s going to love me that way with my physical disability?”But the point I’m trying to make is this: that thought wouldn’t have entered my mind so strongly were it not for societal perceptions of disability. People don’t think about disability and intimacy in the same sentence. That may be harsh, but it’s true. I know this because it’s been my reality.

I remember when I was a teenager and I started liking boys. I went through the typical phases of having crushes, but with an added hiccup. I constantly wondered whether the boys who liked me actually liked me or if they felt sorry for me due to my disability. Most of the guys I ended up liking in those early years were the boys who were consistently nice to me, and because I was so used to being indirectly bullied through school, I gravitated to the boys who treated me with kindness and friendship that felt genuine and real. However, even with those boys, the crush was only one sided, and I was “friend-zoned.” I liked them in the “I want you to be my boyfriend” sense, but they just wanted to be friends, and that was heartbreaking for me at the time. It took me years to realize that those friendships were not only real, they were the kind to stand the test of time and still be strong throughout the seasons of life.

I should also add that up until my junior year of high school, I attended private school, and at my private school, I was the only student with a disability. Being surrounded by friends who had no problem getting boyfriends was consistently frustrating. I watched my friends with their boyfriends, knowing they didn’t have the added challenge of wondering if someone would ever take them on a real date as opposed to a “pity date.”

It wasn’t until I was in college that I started feeling more comfortable with guys. Yes, I still had a lot to work through, but in the weird (and wonderfully hippie) city of Asheville, I had finally found a place where I belonged. Throughout my sophomore and junior years of college, I still had some experiences with guys that weren’t ideal and didn’t last, but I was learning. Once, I started talking to a guy who worked at a nearby bakery. When one of the first texts he sent me was, “Are you even capable of having sex?” I blocked his number and never talked to him again. In another instance, I had a few dates with a guy who was incredibly outdoorsy but also incredibly full of himself. While he was initially respectful of my disability, he later wanted to be intimate before I was ready. When he would not respect my decision to wait until I felt comfortable, his inner jerk surfaced, and he said “But no one’s ever said no to me before.” My response, “Looks like I just did.” I kicked him out of my apartment and my life.

I should note that even these early experiences taught me a lot about dating and relationships, and especially dating with a disability, and they helped prepare me for when I would meet the right guy. My friends and family will tell you that I spent years wanting nothing more than a relationship. I used to get so discouraged when they’d say, “It’ll happen when you least expect it.” Turns out they were right.

Sometimes it blows my mind that the first guy I entered into an actual relationship with ended up being the one that stuck. But in other ways, it made total sense. We met in an unconventional way, but looking back on it now, I know that we would never have crossed paths had we not met in that way. By the time we met in my senior year of college, I knew what I was looking for in a guy: someone who treated me with kindness, had a good sense of humor, and wasn’t at all repelled by the fact that I had a disability. When I first met my now-boyfriend, he was all those things and more, and within a few weeks, we were completely smitten with each other.

However, I was still unsure of a lot. I was unsure whether this was a guy that could see my disability, but also see that it was only a piece of me. I didn’t know whether he would comfortable with the fact that I have certain limitations that are always present. But more than anything, I knew I didn’t want to screw this up. For once, I didn’t want my disability to prevent me from experiencing something I really, truly wanted.

I remember the first time I caught my boyfriend staring at me. We were in the kitchen of my apartment, and I was washing dishes. I glanced over, and he was staring right at me. Confused, I responded with “what?” See, up until this moment, I had been stared at my entire life because of my disability, and I couldn’t even fathom that someone staring at me could be a positive thing. When he responded with, “I’m just looking at you,” I broke down crying. I broke down because I was falling for him, and I broke down because for the first time, I truly felt seen. For once, I wasn’t being stared at because of my differences. And for the first time in my life, a guy wasn’t just seeing my CP, but every single part of me…and it was wonderful and terrifying all at the same time. But it was love. It was our story. And it was only the beginning.