Welcome back to our blog series on autism in puberty, where we talked about discussing puberty with an autistic child from a parent or caregiver standpoint in part 1 , explored teachers navigating school rules and norms to offer useful, individualized curricula to autistic students in part 2 , and took a closer look at how best to approach the topic as a professional when working with families in part 3. 

Today we want to wrap up this series (for now) with a closer look at some resources that can be used by parents, teachers, and professionals alike when working with their children, students, clients, or families.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic, either as a supporter interested in a deeper dive or as a self-advocate hoping for more material targeted toward you as a primary audience then we would love to hear from you! Just drop us a line at hello@autismgrownup.com , and we will dive into some of the best resources we have found related to puberty, sex education, and dating and relationships.

Transition: The Central Importance of Sexual Education in ASD - Part 3

For some members of an autistic person’s support network, the challenge of providing an appropriate puberty and sex education curriculum might be both a matter of deciding what is necessary to teach and justifying the importance of teaching it to other stakeholders or supporters in that person’s life. 

This particular resource hones in on why it is so important for autistic people, even those who are expressly not interested in dating or relationships, to receive a baseline sexual education. The series includes other parts but part 3 is most closely focused on the justification elements, and includes a video and a variety of handouts.

Sex Ed for Self-Advocates - The Organization for Autism Research

One obvious challenge for any supporter seeking to help provide a helpful and appropriate sex education curriculum is knowing where to start and what to include. Throughout this series we have talked about the value of open communication in determining what is relevant to any given autistic person’s goals, but it is also incredibly helpful to have a baseline curriculum to work off of and explore. 

For supporters such a curriculum can help fill gaps they may not have thought of and for learners it can offer a sense of the topics that are out there and build more informed choices about what is most relevant. 

This particular curriculum is so valuable because it is aimed directly at self-advocates, who can explore the variety of modules on their own terms and follow up with caregivers or supporters as needed, rather than relying solely on their support network for information on a topic that can sometimes be challenging to talk about openly. If you are supporting an autistic person who strongly prefers to explore topics on their own this resource can be a huge help!

Sexual Education Resources - RespectAbility

While this resource is not necessarily a straightforward curriculum, it is an incredible compilation of resources covering a huge range of topics and a wide variety of needs. If the person you are supporting has questions about a specific topic and you’re not sure of what resource you can share, there is a decent chance that you will find something relevant in this list.

RespectAbility also covers resources across a wide range of disabilities and may offer some additional perspective if resources meant to cater exclusively to autistic people don’t quite fit your needs. While it is unlikely that any individual will need every resource on this list, there is a great chance that you will find something relevant to you or to the needs and goals of the person you are supporting.

One drawback to this compilation is that many (though not all!) of the listed resources are paid products, but it may be worthwhile for topics that are highly relevant.

The Relationships Decoded Curriculum

While this resource could be used by an individual looking for more information, it does include a facilitator guide and leans more towards teaching scenarios, offering a wide range of lesson plans and visual supports. 

This particular program focuses a little less (though does not entirely exclude) puberty and bodily development and hones in more on forming healthy relationships and expressing and respecting boundaries. 

We greatly appreciate the emphasis on safety across a variety of different levels of interest in dating and relationships and is a great example of how sex education can be important even for people who do not want to date as a way of both enforcing that their own boundaries are valid and should be respected and that other people deserve the same level of respect for their boundaries.

Autism Spectrum News - Autism and Sexuality

This is a compilation of articles from a particular issue of Autism Spectrum News that focused on autism and sexuality and is more honed in on a parental perspective. We have included this resource because all of the articles are free and it can be helpful to hear perspectives from other parents when navigating this topic. That being said we do want to caution that some of the terminology used is either incorrect or no longer embraced by autistic self-advocates (including terms like “individuals with autism” or describing a person as “neurodiverse”) and that there is some reference to behavioral health that we do not strictly endorse. While exploring these parental perspectives it is crucial to remember that the work we do as supporters is in service to the autonomy and goals of the person we are supporting to whatever extent possible.

The Relationships Toolkit - Autism Grown Up 

Lastly we want to briefly draw attention to our own free Relationships Toolkit and the ways it can help especially older autistic self-advocates who have questions about navigating the dating world. Our toolkit hones in on the ups and downs of dating and relationships specifically and unlike other curriculums does not directly cover puberty or sex. 

However, for autistic adults interested thinking more about the norms of dating and how they wish to approach it this guide can be incredibly helpful in centering an individual’s goals, explaining some of the common language used around dating advice, and sharing a large compilation of resources from autistic adults sharing their own dating perspectives ranging from autistic people actively searching for love to people who were undiagnosed when dating and looking back on their experiences having been married for many years. 

It also includes some resources for allistic partners looking to be more supportive! While we strongly encourage using some of these other resources for education regarding puberty and sexuality, we believe our toolkit can be a valuable additional resource for anyone wanting to know more about the relationship part of the equation specifically.

With that we are wrapping up our series on sex education and puberty for the time being, but that doesn’t mean we are done covering this topic forever! 

We are always looking for new ways to explore the subjects in our blog either by going more in depth or covering a facet that we hadn’t previously looked at very closely. 

If there is a topic you’d like to see us explore more closely then we’d love to hear from you! Just drop us a line at hello@autismgrownup.com and we will be back next week!