Shane Burcaw and Hannah Aylward have heard it all. As an interabled couple—Shane lives with a muscle-wasting disease and uses a wheelchair, while Hannah is nondisabled—they’ve faced countless assumptions about their relationship. Married since 2020, the pair regularly address these misconceptions on their podcast and YouTube channel, but one myth in particular keeps coming up: the idea that they don’t have a sex life.
“It’s getting old now,” Shane said in a recent video where they debunked 19 common misconceptions. “If you’ve ever read a book by a disabled person or done a simple Google search, you’d know disabled people can absolutely have sexual relationships.” He added that those who refuse to believe it are “willfully sticking their head in the sand.”
Hannah shared some of the bizarre backlash she’s received, including being called a “pedophile” simply because Shane is smaller in stature. Some commenters even claimed that if their genders were reversed, their relationship would be “illegal”—a notion she finds absurd. “People act like disabled individuals can’t consent to intimacy,” she said. While she acknowledges that some disabilities may affect sexual function, she stresses that it’s far from the norm.
Shane also pointed out that society often views disabled people as asexual or incapable of romantic relationships, something he’s happy to disprove. Despite the trolling and invasive questions, the couple remains unfazed, focusing instead on their happy, fulfilling life together.
