The Christian Science Monitor calls it “a perverse psychological drama about able-bodied people who yearn to become disabled,” and gives it a C-. Premiere gives it three stars, and calls it “a dark romance.” The Los Angeles Times says it’s “unexpectedly moving.”

Quid Pro Quo, in limited release, is the story of a public radio reporter who is investigating a story on able-bodied people who seek identity and eroticism in amputation, paralysis and paraplegia. The film by writer-director Carlos Brooks stars Nick Stahl as the reporter, who is himself partially paralyzed, and Vera Farmiga as his love interest, an attractive blonde who confesses her overwhelming desire to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.

From the New York Times review by Stephen Holden:

Ms. Farmiga’s performance might be described as radioactive – her character, in which she uncovers many conflicting emotional layers, has a glow-in-the-dark phosphorescence that is sexy, but also scary. In Fiona’s mind the medical paraphernalia of paralysis has an erotic power similar to that of the accoutrements of sadomasochism. An elaborate brace, for instance, is the ne plus ultra in sexy lingerie.

After spinning out metaphors of paralysis and eroticism in its characters’ feverish imaginations, “Quid Pro Quo” decides at the last minute that it has to explain everything. The moment it pulls away from the fantastic, it lands with a thud.

The movie trailer is here.

In an interview with Premiere, actress Vera Farmiga says she based her performance on her reading on the Internet about people with “Body Integrity Identity Disorder”, which she says is authentic.

Yvonne K. Fulbright, the ‘Sexpert’ for Fox.com, says it’s time for society to reexamine and change its attitudes about sex and disability. “People with disabilities can be very sexual — much more than we give them credit for,” she says.

Fulbright offers a list of stereotypes that need to be challenged. Among them:

• People with disabilities aren’t sexual beings.
• People with disabilities are undesirable.
• People with disabilities shouldn’t have sex.

From the Los Angeles Times:

A young woman walked into a restaurant last week and sat close enough to get a good look at Anne Hjelle‘s face. A mountain lion had torn off the left side four years before, leaving it hanging by a flap of skin. Six surgeries hadn’t camouflaged the scars.

“She saw me and had a deer-in-the-headlights look,” said Hjelle, 35, of Mission Viejo. “She quickly got up and moved so she didn’t have to look at me.”

The stranger’s reaction didn’t hurt Hjelle’s feelings.

“I’ve had to learn the hard way that beauty comes from within,” she said.

… Soon after leaving the hospital, Hjelle — a personal trainer who had a model’s looks — put away the hats and sunglasses she used to hide her face. She started to put her hair in a ponytail. She wasn’t going to be ashamed.

“I could have curled up into a ball or gotten on with my life,” said Hjelle, a former Marine helicopter mechanic. “It’s not easy, but I wanted to conquer my fears — just like you do in mountain biking.”

A psychiatrist at King’s College London says that anorexia may be caused by a genetic brain disorder shared by people with autism and Asperger’s syndrome. Prof. Janet Treasure says she thinks the condition may be triggered by inherited problems with mental processing which can often be spotted in childhood behavior.

A recent survey found more than 20 per cent of anorexic patients could be described as having a disorder on the autism spectrum.

Anorexia has been described as “the female form of Asperger’s”, a milder form of autism in which sufferers have difficulty communicating and maintaining social relationships.

From the (UK) Telegraph and the (London) Times.

Writing in National Public Radio’s “This I Believe” series, Lisa Sandin documents her experiences as a person growing up with an “alternately formed body.”

I was taught to respect my body, but to remember that it was only a vehicle that carried the important things: my brain and soul.

… In my alternately formed body, I have learned lessons about patience, determination, frustration and success. This body can’t play the piano or climb rock walls, but it taught all the neighborhood kids to eat with their feet, a skill it learned in the children’s hospital. Eventually it learned to tie shoes, crossed a stage to pick up a college diploma, backpacked through Europe and changed my baby’s diapers.

Some people think I am my body and treat me with prejudice or pity. Some are just curious. It took years, but I have learned to ignore the stares and just smile back. My body has taught me to respect my fellow humans – even the thin, able-bodied, beautiful ones.

I am my words, my ideas and my actions. I am filled with love, humor, ambition and intelligence. This I believe: I am your fellow human being and, like you, I am so much more than a body.