Thread by @thetimes

Last week 24-year-old Hugo Hammond — a PE teacher from Hampshire — became the first #LoveIsland contestant with a physical disability to enter the sun-kissed villa
thetimes.co.uk/article/what-i…

Dating is a battlefield rife with awkward exchanges for anyone. But for people with disabilities, this world is even more complicated, says Lottie Jackson

According to the disability charity Scope only 5% of able-bodied people have been on a date with a disabled person

Thrusting the topic of disability and dating into the public consciousness, Hammond has said how he wants to be a “torchbearer” and prove that people with disabilities have just as much right to find love

For some, such as 19-year-old Meelina Isayas (@MeelinaI), dating is easier when it’s on a friendship-first basis. Although cerebral palsy limits the distance she can walk, she has been on eventful dates with guys she knows well

“I’ve never experienced the difficulty of having to do the ‘big reveal’ on a date,” she says. However, she recalls the dilemma of meeting someone new on a night out recently: “I was quite reserved because there was this voice in my head asking, ‘When do I tell him?’”

Dating apps can create a safe space to discuss disability openly, mitigate awkwardness and even deal with rejection before meeting in person.

“Most of the relationships I’ve had have come from online dating,” says Sophie Bradbury-Cox (@fashionbellee)

thetimes.co.uk/article/what-i…

Sophie matched with her husband, Nathan, on a dating site seven years ago. “I actually made a point of putting the fact I was in a wheelchair on my dating profile,” she says.

“It weeds out people who aren’t worth wasting your time on.”

Lottie Jackson (@1ottie) hopes Hugo's #LoveIsland experience will highlight the reality of dating when you are disabled.

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