![Netflix star Ryan O'Connell on portraying the "desire and humanity" of disabled relationships](https://cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2021/05/17/86433380-10f2-40d5-bb5e-ee2e0a05d687/thumbnail/1200x630/b6effe3638fc46eb34ea9f1be7ec6e03/special-205-unit-00160r.jpg)
Netflix star Ryan O'Connell on portraying the "desire and humanity" of disabled relationships
CBSN
Award-winning actor, writer and producer Ryan O'Connell is definitely not shy when it comes to portraying authentic disabled experiences on the TV screen. His show, "Special," has tackled dating, ableism, relationships — and yes, sex.
"Society has castrated disabled people," O'Connell told CBS News on a Zoom call. "It [is] really important that we don't shy away from that, that we give them sexual agency and desire and humanity." Based off his 2015 memoir, "I'm Special and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves," the Netflix series is often described as a semi-autobiographical show about a gay man with mild cerebral palsy. The series' second and final season drops Thursday, May 20.![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250214202746.jpg)
Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a high-stakes meeting at this year's Munich Security conference to discuss the Trump administration's efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Vance said the U.S. seeks a "durable" peace, while Zelenskyy expressed the desire for extensive discussions to prepare for any end to the conflict.
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Washington — The Trump administration on Thursday intensified its sweeping efforts to shrink the size of the federal workforce, the nation's largest employer, by ordering agencies to lay off nearly all probationary employees who hadn't yet gained civil service protection - potentially affecting hundreds of thousands of workers.
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It was Labor Day weekend 2003 when Matt Scribner, a local horse farrier and trainer who also competes in long-distance horse races, was on his usual ride in a remote part of the Sierra Nevada foothills — just a few miles northeast of Auburn, California —when he noticed a freshly dug hole along the trail that piqued his curiosity.