Woman's Hour - 24/03/2009

With Jane Garvey. Featuring: Jane talks to the mother of a 21-year-old man with Down's Syndrome who is looking for a relationship, and hears from an engaged couple in their 40s who both have learning difficulties. How do you help adults with learning difficulties who want to be sexually active? How can they be supported in channelling their feelings and drives to get pleasure from their close personal relationships, while providing protection from encounters which are exploitative? Artist, environmental activist and blogger Zena el Khalil talks about her new memoir - Beirut I Love You - based on a blog she wrote in Beirut during 2006 describing daily life with the ever-present threat of war. And when was the last time you spared a word for the person working at the supermarket check-out? The women who work on check-outs - and they usually are women - are fighting back via a special website where they dish the dirt on customers' rudeness. Jane discusses why the check-out causes such unpleasantness and stress with author Rachel Bowlby and a woman who worked on a check-out for 15 years. Including drama: This Book Will Save Your Life.