[nabs-l] condoms and Sexual Health

Sun Sep 9 19:41:36 UTC 2012

Beth,
That is a question for your doctor or the medicaid office.
Unless your parents have something legal on you as being your guardian, 
legally after age 18,
your privacy is yours. So if they can legally violate your privacy,
I assume there is something going on that lets them do this.
I think waiting for sex till you have a firm commitment and are either near 
marriage or married is best. But if you chose to be active beforehand, I'm 
sure there are sources for pills other than medicaid. If you are in school, 
your health center may have something or go to some charity.

Ashley

-----Original Message----- 
From: Beth
Sent: Saturday, September 08, 2012 2:06 PM
To: National Association of Blind Students mailing list
Subject: Re: [nabs-l] condoms and Sexual Health

Unfortunately for me, my privacy as an adult patient i violated
on a daily bais if I'm in Florida with my parents.  They want
protection, protection, protection, but there' nothing wrong with
telling them to go away at thi point.  I am not going to tell you
guy whether or not I wa exually active, but I have a quetsion.
Mot of u are on Medicaid, right?  I wonder if any of you can tell
me whether a government ervice uch a Medicaid will cover birth
control pills.  I've been told to try birth control, but I
already take mental health meds, o I wonder if I should put even
more bad chemical in my body, and the other thing i that
government insurance may not cover birth control because it' the
government.  I don't know because of thoe comment made by the
demagogue Limbaugh (ome p0o9litical people might know whuat I"m
talking about.)  And if we elect the wrong peron, I might not be
able to get free birth control.  Thank.
Beth

----- Original Message -----
From: Arielle Silverman <arielle71 at gmail.com
To: nabs-l at nfbnet.org
Date sent: Sat, 8 Sep 2012 11:00:57 -0600
Subject: [nabs-l] condoms and Sexual Health

Hi all,
I know the recent discussions about sex and dating are kind of in
a
gray area as to whether or not they're on-topic for this list,
since
most of the issues Koby brought up are not really unique to
blindness.
So if the moderators or Dave feel this is getting too far afield,
I
will happily respect your judgment. However, I also think that
Brandon's question about where to get condoms is a legitimate one
and
that there might be other blind people out here, including
teenagers,
who have similar concerns about how to get condoms, birth control
or
sexual health information without a lot of awkwardness or
embarrassment. It can be particularly difficult if you have to
depend
on someone else (especially parents) for transportation which can
make
going to a clinic or drugstore difficult.
There are a few places to buy condoms online, including
www.condomania.com
www.undercovercondoms.com
and
www.condomdepot.com
Believe it or not, they also have some condom choices at
www.amazon.com
If you go to your health center on campus for any reason, it
shouldn't
be a problem  to ask a doctor or nurse there about condoms.
I cannot answer the questions about when to begin having sex with
a
partner because that is a highly individual decision. However, I
feel
it important that anyone who is considering having sex for the
first
time ensure you understand what all of your options are for
preventing
pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, the advantages and
disadvantages of each option, and the proper way to use condoms
and
birth control. There are  a couple different websites with this
kind
of information:
www.plannedparenthood.org
(includes live chat with a sexual health educator) or
www.scarleteen.com
This issue is particularly close to my heart at the moment
because my
boyfriend's sister just had an unintended pregnancy at a very
inopportune time (while still in college, with a guy she had only
known for a few months) and was apparently taking birth control
pills,
but had not been taking them consistently. While I don't believe
that
sex  should be feared, it is something that takes some
responsibility,
planning and foresight to ensure it is enjoyable while minimizing
the
risks. Also, while I won't go into details here, there are other
ways
to be physically intimate with someone that are less risky, which
these online forums will talk about.
I also want to bring up  an issue that is somewhat relevant to
sexual
health, which I experienced and I think that some of you might
also be
struggling with. This is the issue of having your parents drive
you to
doctors' appointments and then having them want to sit in or even
participate in your appointments. Since I attended college in my
home
city, my mother always wanted to drive me to my doctors'
appointments
and would then want to come in and chat with the doctor while
he/she
was examining me. This was partly because my parents and I saw
many of
the same doctors and she often thought it was a good opportunity
to
ask the doctor a quick question about her own health while she
was
there, or because she was curious to see what the doctor
recommended
to me about a particular issue. I eventually realized that while
it
wasn't ill-intentioned, it was a violation of my privacy as an
adult
patient and I asked her to wait in the waiting room while I was
seeing
the doctor. I didn't actually take this stand until I was 21 and
in
hindsight I wish I had done  it much earlier. By the time you are
18,
unless you have a serious cognitive disability, you have a right
to
privacy of your medical information and it is important to
establish a
good doctor-patient relationship without a third person
interfering.
This is especially true when it comes to sexual health and by the
time
you are 18 or even 16, you will want to start discussing your
sexual
activities or questions with your doctors without your parents
being
around. You might also want to consider getting a driver or even
taking the bus to medical appointments to avoid this problem.
On a related note, by the time you are in high school, you should
know
the names of all medications you take on  a regular basis and any
chronic medical conditions you may have. If you ever have to go
to the
emergency room, this kind  of information may be requested of
you.
Best,
Arielle

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