Relationships, Sexuality and ASD: Share Your Thoughts

[Laura Pecora]

Dear all Aspies Central Members,

I have only recently become a member of this forum, and would firstly like to thank all members for welcoming me to your online community.

My name is Laura, and I am a PhD student at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia. I am currently conducted a study that is looking to learn about the unique experiences of friendships,relationships, and sexuality for individuals with ASD as they approach adolescence and early adulthood. The main aim of this research is to better understand the positive aspects, and associated challenges that males and females on the spectrum face in their pursuit of a healthy sexual development and fulfilling romantic and sexual life.

Given that there is extremely limited research of the experiences that are unique to individuals on the spectrum, it is hoped that improving the knowledge base in this area will work to increase awareness and foster greater understanding among parents, family, and carers of persons with ASD. It is anticipated that the findings of this study will inform and enhance sex-education programs tailored specifically to address those concerns that individuals with ASD may experience.

As such, I am writing on this forum to inquire if you would consider helping me by sharing your thoughts and experiences by participating in this study. This research is particularly interested in responses from people who have a clinical diagnosis of High-functioning ASD or Asperger’s Syndrome, and are aged between 15 and 24 years, and/or their parents.

Participation involves answering an anonymous questionnaire, which should take approximately 25-35 minutes to complete. The study has approval from the Deakin University Human Research Ethics Committee- (DUHREC: 2014-270).

The study can be completed online and can be accessed through the following link:http://psych.hosted-sites.deakin.edu.au/sbs

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected]. I am more than happy to answer any queries you may have in regards to the study.

I thank you very much for your time and consideration.

Laura

 

[eonbus]

i completed the survey already. it wasnt bad actually.

 

[ancusmitis]

I am 28. Once again, no one's interested in what autism means for me.

 

[Laura Pecora]

Thank you all very much for taking the time to either consider, complete, and share your thoughts the survey, it is very much appreciated. While I do agree and understand that the thoughts and experiences of all individuals with ASD should be considered irrespective of age, unfortunately, as this particular research is looking at the initial experiences of individuals as they approach their first experiences and relationships, we were limited to adolescence. I do very much appreciate your thoughts on looking at individuals across a broader age range, and do intend to take this into consideration in our future research projects. Thank you very much again.

 

[eonbus]

what is this research gonna benefit from us laura pecora?

 

[Laura Pecora]

It is hoped that our findings will give us a greater understanding of the major areas within sexuality, the development of initial relationships, friendships, etc. that many individuals on the spectrum experience. By doing so, we hope to find out more about the specific areas that males and females would either like to know more about, or have greater access to specialist sex education programs or support services to guide them through the concerns that they find most important to them. We anticipate that once we gain a greater understanding of the aspects within sexual development and sexuality, that our research can work to inform other individuals on the spectrum, as well as parents and other researchers in the field, and interventions themselves to shape, change and develop these programs and tailor the content and nature of services to ensure that all males and females experience puberty, adolescence and their first relationships in a positive, and well supported way. I hope that this does give you an understanding of what we are looking to learn more about and why, but if you have any further questions, I am more than happy to clarify them for you. Thank you for considering our survey again.

Laura

 

[midlife aspie]

I don't think most of the people here who have intimate relationship experience are all that eager to post here publicly. Perhaps the encouragement of PM's may help.

 

[Laura Pecora]

Thank you for pointing this out midlife aspie, that is a very valid point. While I think it is important to reiterate that the purpose of my original post was to invite any interested members to complete the questionnaire for our research at Deakin University: http://psych.hosted-sites.deakin.edu.au/sbs I would also like to reiterate that participation in the survey is completely anonymous and confidential.

If any members have any questions or would like to know any further information in regards to the study or subject topic, or would like to know more about the study, I do encourage you to private message me if you feel more comfortable.

Thank you again.
Laura

 

[eonbus]

It is hoped that our findings will give us a greater understanding of the major areas within sexuality, the development of initial relationships, friendships, etc. that many individuals on the spectrum experience. By doing so, we hope to find out more about the specific areas that males and females would either like to know more about, or have greater access to specialist sex education programs or support services to guide them through the concerns that they find most important to them. We anticipate that once we gain a greater understanding of the aspects within sexual development and sexuality, that our research can work to inform other individuals on the spectrum, as well as parents and other researchers in the field, and interventions themselves to shape, change and develop these programs and tailor the content and nature of services to ensure that all males and females experience puberty, adolescence and their first relationships in a positive, and well supported way. I hope that this does give you an understanding of what we are looking to learn more about and why, but if you have any further questions, I am more than happy to clarify them for you. Thank you for considering our survey again.

Laura

I do have a question, why do asperger women hate asperger men? Why are they masking themselves. Answer me those two questions.

 

[Skeleton Canyon]

I feel better about my romantic relationships then I do about my friendships tbh

I think if I have a deep emotional attachment with someone things last longer.

Is that at all helpful or is that true for everyone?

I find it hard to relate to people my age more then I find it hard to associate just because of my unusual interests and life experiences but I'm not sure that's really anything you could or should change.

Sorry for posting so much I just thought all this might be helpful for you to know. I was also wondering if you were going to cross reference what the kids said and what there parents said. I think it could be very intresting stuff to look at if handled well.

Wish you luck on your PHD.
My mom actually teaches psych.

 

[Skeleton Canyon]

Ps:Also found some interesting issues with formating for this test. May want to look it over

 

[Skeleton Canyon]

It also seems to asume I'm straight and also assume the parent is the one answering which is mildly annoying. It also always kinda urks me when you ask the parent rather then the kid.

 

[Laura Pecora]

Thank you all very much for your questions and for your insight into this, I very much appreciate you all sharing your thoughts and experiences with me. Unfortunately, I have not been able to reply to each individual comment I have addressed each one below. I hope you find this helpful.
-Eonbus: The answers to your questions are still very unknown, and it is because both your questions, and many others that are still unknown by individuals with ASD/Aspergers themselves, and parents, researchers etc. that I am conducting my research on relationships and sexuality in this area. As you suggested, while some Asperger women may 'hate' Asperger men, there are some males and females with Aspergers in relationships with both people with Aspergers and neurotypicals also. The reasons some relationships work and others don't may be based on a host of different reasons, with many being aspects outside an Asperger diagnosis, such as personality style, what social and material aspects people desire from a relationships. Despite this, some research does suggest that because generally, females (with and without an Asperger diagnosis) tend to have a stronger desire and skills in social/emotional elements than some males, this may see that some females may imitate the behaviours of neurotypical females, and thus 'hide' their ASD symptoms. There has also been some research to suggest that ASD also presents itself differently according to (biological) sex. Unfortunately though, there is still a lot that we don't know and want to know more about, and hence the reason I am interested in finding out more about this research topic. I hope that this has given you some insight into what I have researched so far, but if you have any further questions, I am more than happy to share what else I have learned and would like to learn.

-Skeleton Canyon: Thank you very much for sharing your thoughts and experiences. It is very relevant to me and my research, and I also really appreciate you being so kind to take the time to look at my survey. If you feel that you know any other people who would like to also share their thoughts by completing the survey, please feel free to let them know about it. In response to your questions, from what I have learned it is very common for people to have a deeper emotional attachment to things that last longer. This could be because it gives them security or a sense of stability. Generally, this is a common finding for both males and females with or without ASD.
-In terms of cross checking with parents, yes ideally, we would like to cross reference the responses of young adult responses with parent responses. This is so we can gather how much young adults are experiencing that their parents may or may be aware about while also looking at the things that both young adults and parents would like to know more about. I do understand you may find it annoying that many tests look at parents responses, as it is the individual themselves who has these experiences that many parents will not be fully aware of. Because many parents have such a strong role with young adult's first relationships, this is why we have included both a parent and young adult version. Thank you for letting me know though, it is a very helpful suggestion.
-When clicking the link to complete the survey, you should be presented with an option to complete it as either a 'parent' or 'young adult'. I hope that if you have completed the survey, if the 'young adult' is selected, it should ask you questions about yourself. If there were any that you came across that did not imply this, or if there were some particular questions that implied that you were straight and that issues with formatting, I do apologise, this is a new survey and we did anticipate that there some formatting/phrasing issues that would need to be amended to cater for the appropriate gender identity and sexual orientation. If there were particular questions you feel would be better to change to ensure we capture this appropriately, please feel free to let me know, and I will ensure they are ammended. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts and looking at my survey, I really appreciate this. I hope our findings work to answer and facilitate understanding and support for all males and females in their relationship experiences irrespective of diagnosis.