Short report: Recommendations for education, clinical practice, research, and policy on promoting well-being in autistic youth and adults through a positive focus on sexuality and gender diversity.
Jeroen Dewinter, Morénike Giwa Onaiwu, Maria L Massolo and 18 others
PMID 37530121WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults and professionals rated eight policy recommendations as highly important, covering education, healthcare, and research.
These guidelines call for accessible information and trained clinicians but do not test any specific therapy.
Key findings
01Eight of eleven proposed policy recommendations met the consensus threshold of 80% of participants rating them 8 or higher on a 10-point scale.
02The accepted recommendations focus on comprehensive sexuality education, accessible information, training professionals, accessible healthcare, prevention of sexual violence, and including autistic individuals in research.
03Participants emphasized the need for clinicians to address specific areas such as menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, and trauma-informed care for survivors of sexual violence.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study generates consensus on policy priorities; it does not test the effectiveness of any clinical intervention or therapy. The sample was heavily skewed toward Western Europe and North America, with very few participants from Africa, Asia, or South America. Most studies cited in the background evidence excluded people with intellectual disabilities, limiting the generalizability of the recommendations to that population. The consensus threshold was applied to the combined group, and specific subgroup differences between autistic adults and professionals were not detailed in the text provided.
Declared interests
The research was funded by the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR). The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. INSAR stated it is not responsible for nor does it endorse the content.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these eight recommendations as evidence that specific clinical techniques improve autistic well-being. This study reports what a group of stakeholders believes is important for policy and practice, not what has been proven to work in a trial.