“In the middle of a quiet street a man is kissing a red headed girl who is using a wheelchair.”
“‘Take A Look At This Heart,’ is a new documentary that journeys into the romantic lives of extraordinary people with disabilities. The film follows director Ben Duffy’s previous documentary on adaptive athletes, ‘Tin Soldiers.’
“One in five people live with a disability, and 1 in 50 have some form of paralysis, according to studies by the Christopher And Dana Reeve Foundation and the U.S. Census. Despite these statistics, people with disabilities are vastly underrepresented by the media in general, with the subject of intimacy remaining especially taboo. Misperceptions abound, often complicating or even preventing people with disabilities from expressing their sexuality or perceiving themselves as capable of romantic relationships.
“‘I was always saying in the back of my mind, I wonder if I’m ever going to get married,’says Stephen Wampler, a father of two who runs Camp Wamp, a sleep-away camp for children with disabilities. Stephen achieved notoriety by becoming the first person with Cerebral Palsy to climb El Capitan in Yosemite. When asked to describe their first date, his wife Elizabeth notes, ‘All of a sudden, I knew I had to be with him the rest of my life, and I was positive.'”
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Watch the film trailer here: