acquire a disability which may prompt self-harm. According to DPW fetishists, their attraction does not appear to pose dangers to DPWs' partners or third parties. However, it can be noted that the DSM-IV includes this paraphilia within the diagnostic criteria of psychiatric pathology. Fetishists raise objections to the characterization of their preference as an aberrant pathology. However, objections have also been raised by members of the disability community on the grounds that such fetishes objectify and dehumanize them. Some people with disabilities willingly participate in the fetish subculture, for example, contributing model photos (e.g., Debbie van der Putten). In relationships The Amelotatist found that 55 percent of a sample of 195 DPWs had dated disabled people, 40 percent had been sexually intimate with disabled partners, and 5 percent had current disabled spouses. Nattress (1993) found that 41 percent of a sample of 50 DPWs had, or were in, relationships with disabled partners. Relationships between DPWs and disabled people tend to be reported as being ordinary, the attraction being sated by the fact of the partner's disability. It appears that the attraction to disability is undisclosed in a proportion of DPW-disabled relationships. DPWs may press disabled partners to put their disabilities to the fore in intimate situations and exhibit them in social ones. Sexually, some DPWs have been reported to engage in active tactile observation as much as in intercourse. That DPWs find it hard to satisfy both sexual and emotional needs is borne out in findings by both Nattress (1996) and Dixon (1983). They report that, despite reasonable success in obtaining sexual contact with disabled people, just 21 percent of DPWs had had long-term relationships with disabled partners. About half of DPWs fail to establish relationships with disabled people. "Second-best" options for them are relationships with pretenders and wannabes. Practically all DPWs have experience of relationships with non-disabled partners. Such relationships are also reported to be ordinary despite the (mostly undisclosed) attraction to disability on the part of one partner. Although it is not common knowledge within mainstream communities, the internet has revolutionized the process by which DPWs can meet each other while pursuing meaningful relationships. Some of these individuals, however, have expressed a level of concern when it comes to their first face to face encounters. While most of these encounters are completely safe, there are important guidelines to provide a sense of security to either party who may