Intimacy and Relationships - Reeve Foundation

A word from our Reeve Summit 2020 presenters:

We are Cole and Charisma, an interabled couple from Richmond, VA. We have been together for over two years and are now happily engaged for the past seven months.

Due to the many questions we have received about our relationship, we started a YouTube channel, Roll with Cole & Charisma, to share our lives with others and hopefully answer questions about relationships, intimacy, self-care, and caregiving that most people have. Because of our channel, we have realized the importance of talking about love and relationships between two differently-abled individuals. Spinal cord injuries (SCI) are very complex and entering into a new relationship with an SCI can be quite daunting for both partners. We have faced our fair share of fear, concern, and questions regarding our relationship, how a spinal cord injury may impact certain aspects of our relationship, and whether our love would be sustainable. We want to share our relationship journey and how we are able to have a fulfilling and intimate life for anyone who may be harboring those same concerns so that they can see what it is like.

Our session at the Reeve Summit “Intimacy and Relationships with Cole Sydnor and Charisma Jamison,” will focus primarily on three topics: how to get back into the dating scene after sustaining a spinal cord injury, how to manage certain emotions like frustration, impatience, and exhaustion as the partner and possible caregiver of someone with a spinal cord injury, and how a couple can maintain an intimate life when caregiving plays a large part in their relationship.

Though our relationship is still very young, we have learned a lot from ourselves and others, and hopefully, we will be able to share valuable tips with you all. Hope to see you there!

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Join Cole & Charisma and many other key thought leaders at the Reeve Summit 2020: Where Care, Cure and Community Connect, held in Washington D.C. on February 26-28, 2020. Click here to register for the conference.

Any questions about the conference should be addressed to ReeveSummit@ChristopherReeve.org.