Speaker
Description
Authors: Noëline Vivet (Université Paris Saclay, École Doctorale de Santé Publique; Institut National d’Études Démographiques (INED), UR14-Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Campus Condorcet, 9 cours des Humanités, F-93300 Aubervilliers, Paris, France; Université Paris Cité, ECEVE, UMR 1123, Inserm, 10 rue de Verdun, F-75010 Paris, France), Elise de La Rochebrochard (Institut National d’Études Démographiques (INED), UR14-Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Campus Condorcet, 9 cours des Humanités, F-93300 Aubervilliers, Paris, France), Philippe Martin (Institut National d’Études Démographiques (INED), UR14-Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Campus Condorcet, F-93300 Aubervilliers, Paris, France; Université Paris Cité, ECEVE, UMR 1123, Inserm, 10 rue de Verdun, F-75010 Paris, France ; GDID Santé, Paris, France)
Introduction: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that manifests itself in multiple areas of life. Autistic people show an interest in sexuality and relationships, but they reveal lower levels of sexual experience and protective sexual behaviour, limitations in terms of their relationship to their body and intimacy, and they are more exposed to sexual violence. The sexual health of young autistic people remains a blind spot in health promotion. The objective of this qualitative study is to analyse the needs, experiences, perceptions and recommendations for the promotion of the sexual health of young autistic people.
Method: Twenty-five young French autistic people without intellectual disabilities aged 18 to 24 participated to semi-structured interview. They presented their difficulties in emotional and sexual life and shared their experiences and recommendations for sex education. A qualitative thematic analysis was carried out to explore their points of view.
Results: The majority of participants expressed sensory difficulties in their affective and sexual lives, difficulties in expressing and understanding sexual consent, and disruptions in their conjugal lives. Most of the young people interviewed had suffered sexual violence and had not received sex education adapted to their needs. The majority of young people expressed a need for autism-friendly sex education in the form of a collective sex education intervention and experience sharing thanks to interactive and visual dimensions with the need to stimulate peers interactions, but also with competent professionals in the field of autism.
Discussion: The sexuality of young autistic people is constructed through the prism of their individuality as autistic people, their own perceptions, difficulties, needs and experiences, which are constantly confronted with their place in group and more broadly within society. Taking into account the personal identity of young autistic people in their social and environmental contexts represents a promising intervention perspective.
| Conflict of interest | The authors have no conflict of interest. |
|---|
