Dr. Alan Santinele Martino (he/him) is an Associate Professor (Teaching) in the Community Rehabilitation and Disability Studies program in the Department of Community Health Sciences at the University of Calgary. His main research interests are in disability, gender and sexualities; feminist and critical disability studies theories; and qualitative and community-based research (particularly participatory and inclusive research methodologies). His work has been published in multiple journals, including, for example, Disability Studies Quarterly, Sexuality and Disability, and Sexualities, as well as edited volumes focused on disability and/or sexualities studies. He has guest-edited three special issues. He is the lead of the Disability & Sexuality Lab at the University of Calgary. In recognition of his research contributions, he was awarded the 2024 Early Investigator Award by the Canadian Sociological Association and the 2024 Early Career Award by the Sociology of Sexualities Section of the American Sociological Association.

Disability & Sexuality Lab

Our Mission

We promote social change by co-creating research and resources with communities to tackle silences around disability and sexuality.

For more information, please visit: disabilitysexualitylab.com

Looking for Research Participants

For more information, please contact Dr. Alan Martino using the Contact section.

Research Projects

While it is normative for non-disabled people to desire and be in intimate relationships, the same expectation often does not apply to people with intellectual disabilities. Due to infantilization and de-sexualization, people with intellectual disabilities are commonly assumed to lack romantic and sexual desires. Also, the intersection of disability and sexuality remains a taboo topic. As a response to these silences, my research program has focused predominantly on the sexualities and intimate citizenship of disabled people.

My research agenda engages with the sociologies of gender and sexualities and critical disability studies, as well as their intersections, to theorize and empirically examine the perspectives, challenges, and triumphs of disabled people concerning sexuality. More importantly, my research makes space for disabled people to share their own experiences with love and intimacy, contributing to emerging the literature that is finally listening to disabled people themselves.