Abstract
Parent report and adolescent self-report data on lifetime sexual experience in adolescents with ASD were compared in 43 parent-adolescent dyads. Parents tended to underestimate the lifetime sexual experience of their sons, particularly solo sexual experiences such as masturbation and experience with orgasm. Parental underestimation and unawareness of adolescents’ sexual experience may influence communication and education about sex and sexuality in families. These findings have implications for the interpretation of earlier research, based on parent and caregiver reports, on sexuality in adolescents with ASD.
Highlights
A number of recent studies have asked adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) about their sexual experience and sexuality (Byers et al 2012, 2013; Dewinter et al 2015). These studies, which were based on self-report, showed that the lifetime sexual experience of high-functioning adolescent boys with ASD was comparable to that of their peers in the general population (Dewinter et al 2015) or demonstrated healthy sexual functioning in adults with ASD (Byers et al 2012, 2013)
We report the number of adolescents who confirmed the different sexual experiences, agreement between parents and their sons separately on the occurrence and non-occurrence of the lifetime sexual experience, the proportion of parents who were ignorant of whether their son had or had not experienced each form of sexual behaviour, and parental awareness
Comprehensive sex education, including a variety of issues relating to sexuality including solo and partnered sex (SIECUS 2004) is likely to play an important role in promoting healthy sexual development and preventing harmful or aversive sexual experiences in adolescents with ASD, as it does in other adolescents
Summary
A number of recent studies have asked adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) about their sexual experience and sexuality (Byers et al 2012, 2013; Dewinter et al 2015). Earlier research based on parent (Holmes and Himle 2014) or caregiver reports (Hellemans et al 2007), showed that parents and caregivers thought that adolescents with ASD had less experience of different sexual behaviours than was suggested by adolescents’ self-reports in a recent study (Dewinter et al 2015). The difference between these two types of data may reflect parental underestimation of adolescents’ sexual experience. Parents of boys with ASD might not differ in their knowledge on the sexual experience of their sons compared to parents of non-ASD peers
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