The differential effects of Autism and Down's syndrome on sexual behavior.
Parents report teens with autism trail both Down syndrome and typical peers in every sexual safety and knowledge area.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers asked 320 parents to rate their teen's sexual behavior, privacy skills, and sex-ed knowledge. The sample had three groups: autism, Down syndrome, and neurotypical youth .
Parents also reported how worried they felt about their child's sexual future. All surveys were mailed back and scored with a standard checklist.
What they found
Autism teens scored lowest on every measure. Parents saw fewer dating behaviors, less understanding of private parts, and more safety worries compared with Down syndrome or typical peers.
The gap was large. For example, only 12 % of autism teens were rated as 'knowing how to refuse unwanted touch' versus 45 % of Down syndrome teens.
How this fits with other research
Holmes et al. (2019) extends the story. They found parents of autistic girls mostly just talk about sex; visual tools and step-by-step skills training are rare. The 2016 numbers now make sense—low scores happen because teaching is mostly chat, not structured lessons.
Burack et al. (2004) looked at the same two groups a decade earlier. They showed autism kids lag in sharing emotions during play. The 2016 survey finds the same social gap carries into the sexual domain.
Green et al. (2020) found another parallel. Young adults with autism score low on self-determination, especially when IQ is below 70. Low sexual knowledge and low self-direction track together—both point to the need for explicit, chunked instruction.
Why it matters
BCBAs can close the gap. Add visual social stories that label body parts, show 'yes/no' touch rules, and practice refusal scenes in 5-minute role-plays. Collect data on correct responses just like you do for any other skill. The literature shows parents mainly talk; you can provide the structured practice these teens clearly miss.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although sexuality plays a major role in the socialization of people, few studies have examined the sexual behaviors of individuals with developmental disabilities. Because of this, we decided to investigate sexuality in adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Down's syndrome (Ds) and to compare them with typically developing adolescents, by surveying their parents. Specifically, it was hypothesized that young people with ASD would display lower levels over five domains: social behavior, privacy, sex education, sexual behavior, and parental concerns, than peers with Ds and typically developing young people. In addition, we sought to verify developmental trends in five domains with age for each group. Overall, 269 parents participated; 94 parents of typically developing adolescents, 93 parents of adolescents diagnosed with Ds, and 82 parents of adolescents diagnosed with ASD. Participants were surveyed with a Sexual Behavior Scale developed by Stokes and Kaur [] that assesses parents' reports of their child's: social behavior, privacy awareness, sex education, sexual behavior and parental concerns about the child's behaviors. It was found that three groups were significantly different on all five domains, adolescents with ASD reportedly displaying lower levels than other groups. Moreover, there was a significant improvement in knowledge of privacy and parental concerns with age for adolescents with ASD and a decline in sex education for adolescents with Ds. The results obtained emphasize the need to train adolescents with developmental disability, and especially for adolescents with ASD through sex education programs.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2016 · doi:10.1002/aur.1504