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This article offers a comparative evaluation of two approaches to the organisation of learning disability services and individualised support for people with learning difficulties -Social Role Valorization (SRV) and the Social Model of Disability. Brief descriptive accounts of each approach are given, together with reference to critiques of SRV from UK academics, including those writing from a Social Model perspective. The applicability of the Social Model to people with learning difficulties, and critiques of their marginalization by it, are also discussed. The paper goes on to argue that whilst the analysis of devaluation is similar between the two approaches, academic debates have focussed more on ideological differences, thus losing the opportunity for a sharing of their respective contributions to addressing oppression. The possibility of a 'dialogue for practice' is raised.

This paper reflects upon and connects the findings of two research projects that examined the sexual inequalities experienced by disabled young gay men. Using some of the data for illustrative purposes, we explore the consequences of the dominant heteronormative discursive practices that they experienced within sex education classes. Drawing on Foucault, we explore how the many silences within the particular version of sex education that these young men received resulted in internalized feelings of difference. Furthermore, we argue that such educational experiences construct 'certainties' that do not reflect the realities of young disabled gay men.

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