Increasing Accessibility to Sexual Education for Autistic Adolescents

Supervised by: Dr. Eileen Crehan

Project Background and Progress

Sexual education and the topic of sexuality both remain under-discussed in a majority of the world - there are even fewer studies related to sexuality and autism. My initial research focus has been on sexual education resources such as scholarly articles, webinars, and manuals that are mainly geared toward neurotypical individuals. Some content I have explored so far includes artificial intelligence such as Chat GPT as an accessible resource for asking sexual education-related questions as well as the limitations social media place on sexual content through censorship, limiting viewer accessibility. My methodology for gathering research has been taking recommendations from Dr. Crehan and the Crehan Lab site as well as researching on Google Scholar with keywords that will be specified in the literature review.

Objectives

Before I began my research, the question I created and hope to answer by the end of the project is: "What are the ecological factors that impact risk for problematic sexual behavior among autistic adolescents?" It is important to be able to identify these factors in order to develop effective interventions and understandings. I hope as my research continues that I will be able to zone in on a school-focused context.