Hello all. This is my first thread here, so bear with me. Maybe it’s because I am reading about Kinsey, and have also recently finished the novel by Mark Haddon, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time , but I find myself wondering what, if any, type of sexual expression/relations do autistic people have?
Maybe I am disgustingly voyeuristic, (and most definetly ignorant of this topic), but do autistic teens have sexual awakenings? Besides masturbation? Are they more or less likely to be homosexual? I can see no reason why gender orientation would play a part, but again, that is the deep abyss of my ignorance here.
I have read Oliver Sacks accounts of autism, but this is not dealt with.
They found that 74% of all the autistic residents surveyed demonstrated definite signs of sexual behaviour, either in the form of masturbation or by sexual behaviour towards others. Fifty-two percent of their subjects masturbate in public. They also found that 90% of those who show definite signs of sexual behaviour towards others, choose people who are not interested in responding to their sexual overtures (parents, staff members, strangers and younger children).
Ummmmmmmmmmmm… as far as actual sex is concerned, when reading on this topic, bear in mind that the level of stimulus you’re comfortable processing exceeds what many persons on the autistic spectrum can handle.
I have Asperger’s, which places me on the autistic spectrum, and loud music freaks me out. So does walking around in wet socks. Well, no one likes walking around in wet socks… but trust me, I get downright psychotic in high-stimulus situations.
Now, as far as interest in releasing sexual energies… well, if the individual in question is high-functioning enough to masturbate, I’d expect they’ll have some interest in releasing sexual energy. That’s in the glands as well as the brain, and I think those glands aren’t strictly affected by autism.
I was thinking of high functioning when I asked the question.
As to the threshold and the effects being more more than they can handle…what if their arousal threshold is lower, so that less stimulus is needed?
I believe (have no idea if this is in line with current theory) that not only are there degrees of autism, but that there are autistic-like tendencies in some people.
For example, when Christopher (in the Haddon novel) talks about how he notices everything–the 19 cows in the field, etc.–I have that tendency too, which is one reason I don’t like parties much–there is too much to process.
I don’t have autism, but I was extremely shy as a child–not the same thing at all, but I wonder about said tendencies, and how they overlap.
I just realized that I hijacked my own thread! :smack:
Thanks for the info on sex and the personal wisdom.
Heh, my son is six and is moderately autistic. Let me tell ya’ this is one girl crazy kid. If you’re a girl; you’re getting a hug from my son. Period.
Funny story.
One time I had to take my kid to the emergency room because he bumped his head and left a pretty good gash on it. So I took him to the hospital they “Super Glued” his gash back together and he was all good.
After that we had to wait there under observastion for a little while before the doctor would release us. While we were waiting we where playing games, he was laughing and back to his normal old self.
Anyway, the doctor let us go so we head off to the parking lot. My son and I sat down on a bench outside while my room-mate went to go get the truck. While we were waiting a very attractive girl comes out and sits with us on the bench.
So what does my son do after being in this happy free for all mood? As soon as he sees this girl he does a 180 and starts to get this “Poor whittle me” look on his face. He then tells the girl all sad like “I bumped my head…” he then extends his arms out (in the hug position) to the girl. To which SHE responded with “Awe you poor whittle thing!!”
There’s not enough :rolleyes: in the world for this.
Yep that my son. He can’t read a book but at six years old he already knows how to play the women. :rolleyes:
My son is 7 (Aspergers) and is working on social skills and relationships right now. He told Dad “You look good with all that fat.”
He told me this morning “You husband was mean to your children yesterday.” (DH took his training wheels off.)
He was also telling me that of his two girlfriends that he loves, Erin and Rebecca, that Erin was more beautiful, but he didin’t want Rebecca to know that because it would hurt her feelings.
