Disability doesn't take sex or pleasure off the table — it just sometimes means being more deliberate about how you get there. Disability Horizons worked with a sex-positive retailer to compile practical, specific ideas rather than vague reassurance. Foreplay can carry the whole encounter when penetrative sex is difficult, and doesn't need to start in bed: a shared shower or bath, wet hands moving over each other, works just as well from a shower chair as standing. A text sent ahead of time describing exactly what's planned does real work setting the mood before anyone's even in the room — useful when physically setting a scene in advance isn't possible. Where guiding a partner's hand, or being guided, is already part of daily life, that same dynamic carries naturally into intimacy rather than requiring anything new to be learned. Working through the body methodically — ears, neck, chest, and down — rather than rushing straight to one area tends to make the whole experience more satisfying, especially where sensation itself may be reduced or altered. Oral sex is worth treating as a full option in its own right, not just a warm-up: sitting or lying on a bed edge, table, sofa, or shower chair gives a partner easy access while providing real support, and it works in reverse too — a partner lying down while the other person, seated, is perfectly positioned to reciprocate. It's also a chance to slow down and actually learn what works, rather than rushing to a predictable finish. Solo play deserves the same intentionality: music that means something, lighting that feels intimate, and genuinely exploring the whole body rather than defaulting to the same few moves. For couples, masturbating together — in the same room, on video, or on the phone — adds a layer of intimacy that penetrative sex alone doesn't always provide, and can happen from a bed, a bath, a shower chair, or a wheelchair, wherever's comfortable. Bringing in the senses works especially well for anyone whose physical range is more limited: a shared plate of strawberries and chocolate, different fabric textures run across the skin, a feather, an ice cube on the right spot. A proper sensual massage — oils, unhurried hands, kissing and nibbling along the way — does double duty as both foreplay and its own experience. Music matters too, and doesn't require hearing it conventionally: if either partner is deaf, feeling the vibration through the body still works. Candlelight (battery-operated for safety) adds warmth that can still register as flickering light even for someone with low vision. Roleplay — meeting as "strangers" for a first encounter, even just at home with a minibar and cocktail glasses if going out isn't practical — can reset the whole dynamic of a long relationship. On positioning specifically: the "upside-down turtle" (one partner kneeling behind, the other's chest lowered forward onto the bed) works well for anyone managing chronic pain or limited movement. The "sitting pretzel" — one partner seated at the bed's edge in a wheelchair or chair, the other straddling them facing away and bracing against the bed — suits a man with limited mobility, fatigue, or lower back issues, and by most accounts delivers unusually close, intimate contact. "Wraparound" — one partner sitting upright (pillows for support if needed), the other sitting on their lap facing them, legs wrapped around — works well for reduced leg or core strength, keeps both partners face-to-face, and lets the person on top control the pace and depth. For erectile difficulties or trouble with the physical mechanics of thrusting, a strap-on designed for exactly that purpose can bridge the gap without forcing either partner into a position that doesn't work for their body. *Adapted from a Disability Horizons article, in partnership with a sex-positive retailer, August 2020.*