Hi, I’m Maxfield Sparrow and I’m an autistic1 adult, author, and educator. While things are getting better for autistic people every day, we still have a long way to go. I have been spending time with other autistic people and families and writing about autism for many years now and I noticed that my writing keeps coming back to several important themes, including one big one: sexuality.
Autistic sexuality is a big umbrella of a topic with a lot underneath it: love and abuse, staying safe from predators and staying safe from infections or pregnancy, figuring out one’s orientation and understanding gender. Autistic people have different goals and interests when it comes to sex, gender, and sexuality/romance.
Similarly, different parents have different concerns about their children’s blossoming sexuality, but all parents have concerns. It’s okay; all parents of all children have concerns about what their child’s future will look like in every aspect of life.
One parent wonders: Will my child ever be able to get married? Another parent worries about their child’s intense interest in all things sexual. Will my child end up in trouble with the law over their sexuality? Another parent may suspect new teen aggression is an expression of sexual frustration but feel helpless as to how to address the matter. The purpose of this site is to explore the answers to these and many other questions and concerns.
We’ll talk about why sex education is important for autistic children, teens, and adults; what methods of teaching about sexuality and related issues work best with autistic learners; how to get sex education included in an IEP plan; and much more through articles, interviews, and reviews.
My hope for this site is that it becomes a clearinghouse of information and resources helpful to autistic teens, autistic adults, parents of autistic people of all ages, professionals who serve autistic people, and anyone interested in topics relating to autism and sex/gender/sexuality.
Thank you so much for joining us on this journey!
1: Why do I say autistic instead of person with autism? It’s the language I use for myself. I respect the language others use for themselves, including person-first-language, if that is what resonates for you. Let’s think about the language we use but let’s also move beyond the language and try to talk about the ideas under the language until we find common ground. We are more similar than different…though understanding the differences matters a lot!
If you feel moved to contact me for any reason, there are many ways to connect with me on my LinkTree. https://linktr.ee/maxfield.sparrow