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Recently social constructionist and poststructuralist theories, and the methodologies they have informed, have been criticised for focusing excessively on human discourse and human action whilst overlooking the importance of the material and non-human world. Alongside these critiques we have witnessed the emergence of new-materialist theories and methodologies that attempt to address the perceived shortcomings of social constructionism and poststructuralism. This article aims to make a small contribution to these developments by introducing an experimental new-materialist method for analysing narrative data. The method, which was developed during a qualitative research project exploring the treatment of sexuality within a disability service, borrows from established methods of poststructuralist discourse analysis whilst also seeking to remain attentive to the material, affective and non-human forces that shape and affect the stories people tell.

Within contemporary policy documents regarding intellectual disability and sexuality we often find a progress narrative that contrasts a dark past, when the sexuality of disabled people was suppressed, with an enlightened present, when we recognize the sexual rights of all human beings. In this paper -which pertains to the Republic of Ireland -I take up the Foucauldian and Deleuzian position of treating such progress narratives with suspicion. From this perspective, I offer an alternative reading of the treatment of intellectual disability and sexuality in the present, and I seek to map just some of the subtle but effective ways this population's sexuality continues to be controlled today.

Irish and international legal reform resulting from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities [CRPD] has primarily focussed on Article 12, the right to exercise legal capacity. Article 13, which declares the right to access justice and the right to access procedural accommodations for all with disabilities, is often neglected. Specifically, research has not sufficiently explored the accommodations needed by witnesses with communication difficulties to testify in the courtroom. This study brings this aspect of Article 13 into focus by exploring the views of Irish legal professionals and disability advocates regarding existing and potential further accommodations for witnesses with communication diffiuclties in Irish criminal proceedings. By comparing and contrasting contributions, a series of conflicting perspectives between the legal profession and disability community are revealed. As successful implementation of Article 13 requires collaboration between both groups, this study concludes that these conflicts will need to be acknowledged and addressed in order for reform of courtroom accommodations to succeed.

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