The World’s First Hands-Free Sex Toy Designed By & For People With Disability Is Here

Sex can be exciting, exhilarating, and fun. But for the one in six Australians living with disability, it’s something that’s often sterilely printed on medical forms, marked with concern. Pleasure — a pinnacle of sex — is often left out of the conversation entirely. 

“The only thing brought up if we ever dare to discuss sex and disability, is risk,” Andrew Gurza, who is a disability advocate living with spastic quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy, tells Refinery29 Australia. “We hear so much about how disabled people are at higher risk of sexual assault or abuse, but we never hear about what makes them feel good. If we prioritised pleasure, so many more disabled people would know they have sexual worth, and in turn, the non-disabled community would too.”

It’s why he and his sister, Heather Morrison, created the world’s first hands-free sex toy device, designed by and for disabled people. The Bump’n Joystick is the first of its kind, and tackles the common barrier halting masturbation and the use of sex toys: limited hand movement. It’s something that’s underpinned the entire manufacturing process — from a hands-free unboxing process to a hands-free cleaning, charging, and storing experience.

Gurza’s lived experience has supported the creation of this overdue product. “For me, Cerebral Palsy causes pain, tightness, and discomfort in my hands which makes self-pleasuring and the use of handheld pleasure devices incredibly difficult, if not impossible,” he says.

With the help of sexual health experts, industrial designers, Occupational Therapists, and the disabled community, the Bump’n Joystick was invented. 

“We believe in the ethos 'nothing for me, without me'. To put this into practice, we've collaborated with the disabled community at every step of the design process. This has ensured inclusive design which is disability-driven, not an afterthought or add on,” Morrison says.

The response from the disabled community has been palpable — and is a huge step in the direction of improving the quality of life of disabled people, who, according to Morrison, have been “overlooked and ignored, denied their sexuality, and human rights”.

“So many of the people I have spoken to have said, ‘Oh, my God, I am so excited,’” says Gurza. “I came three times!” says a tester of the Joystick, who lives with MS. “Not using my hands meant I could focus on pleasure, not what my hands could or couldn’t do,” says another tester who has fatigue and coordination issues.

With such an overwhelmingly welcome response, we're left wondering why this hasn’t happened sooner. A study from Deliciously Disabled found that 92% of disabled people want sex toys specifically created for them. Another recent study of theirs highlighted the fact that over 50% of its physically disabled respondents struggle to achieve sexual pleasure on their own.

Guzra agrees that the disabled market is hugely underserviced by an industry that is rapidly growing and pegs itself as being inclusive. “I hope the future of disability-driven sex toys is a bright one and that this is only the start. Hopefully, we can stop talking about disability adaptation and start seeing more disability creation in the sex toy space, and I am proud to be a part of that.”

The Bump’n Joystick is available for just over $300, with certain individuals eligible for a National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) rebate. Pre-order here.