Intimacy denied

Near sunset, Rachel Larson grabbed Nicholas Hamilton by the hand and pulled him down a steep embankment below a graffiti-covered bridge.

With late-summer mosquitoes buzzing around them, the two giggled and caressed each other, their voices muffled by the rush of a nearby stream and the traffic above.

“It’s our secret hideaway,” said Rachel, 21, who has Down syndrome, as she snuggled with Nicholas, 24, who has a developmental disability. “Here, no one can see us and we are free to do whatever we want.”

http://www.startribune.com/for-Minnesota's-disabled-adults,-freedom-to-be-intimate-is-rare/330697391/