 It might be thought that the argument for state-subsidized personal assistance undermines the claim that disability does not pose any general barriers to intimacy. Those arguing that the state should subsidize personal assistance for people with disabilities might seem to share the assumption of Callahan (1988) and Wertz and Fletcher (1993) that disability-related needs differ in kind as well as in degree from other material and emotional needs for which state-subsidized assistance is not defended.