Sex Education for All: Training Service Providers to Support Autistic Individuals

Access to sexual health education can save lives and increase a person’s quality of life. Not having access to this education can contribute to a variety of deleterious outcomes including vulnerability to sexual abuse and assault and resulting trauma. 

Access to sexual health education that promotes healthy sexuality may also impact quality of life. As such, sexual health education should be viewed as a protective and proactive necessity. Research shows that developmentally disabled individuals, including those with autism, are at a higher risk of sexual exploitation and abuse. A significant factor contributing to this vulnerability is the lack of appropriate CSE that addresses the specific needs of this group(Franklin & Smeaton, 2017; Travers et al., 2014). Even when CSE in a disability context is addressed, research tends to consider needs of whole groups of individuals regardless of their disability, such as by referring to ‘disabilities,’ ‘developmental disabilities,’ or ‘learning disabilities’ (Grove et al., 2018; Michielsen & Brockschmidt, 2021; Schmidt et al., 2019; Wolfe et al., 2019a). Under these circumstances, it is critical for autism service providers to contribute their expertise so that this population have better access to services, and those services are adapted to their unique needs.