The Autism Society Event and Education Recordings Archive

This presentation is a therapist’s perspective on how to support adolescents, their parents and other caregivers through the transitions of puberty. The discussion reviews safety, body changes, dating, sex and related emotional changes and strategies for effectively communicating with teens with ASD. The presentation will be rounded out with a discussion of the emotional changes in puberty, and how therapists, parents and other caregivers can best support their teens with ASD through this major life transition. As children with Autism and Asperger’s grow up, they and their families face the same journey through puberty that all families face, but with the complexities unique to ASD.  This presentation provides a therapist’s perspective on supporting adolescent clients and their families through the journey of puberty.  My work with adolescents has included helping parents develop open, direct and honest communication with their teenager with ASD about the myriad issues involved in puberty.  These include safety, body changes, dating, sex and related emotional changes.  This subject is difficult for many therapists and parents to discuss with neuro-typical pre-teens and teens, and this topic can become even more complicated when there are social and communication differences and deficits.

This presentation will provide a brief review of the current literature, including books and scholarly articles, regarding puberty and ASD and resources that may benefit providers and parents.  The presentation will use case examples to explore how to address issues about puberty with clients with ASD and their families.  Covered topics will include issues around safety, modesty, privacy, curiosity and setting appropriate boundaries in the home, school, community settings as well as the internet.  In today’s complex world, parents and therapists can help teens with ASD to understand the complexities of social and legal expectations as well as clarify the safe people to give ongoing guidance to help negotiate social interactions in real life as well as on-line relationships.  The discussion will include how to talk about the difficult and sensitive subjects of nudity, menstruation, sexual arousal, masturbation and nocturnal emissions.  Attendees will learn strategies for how to talk about and teach individuals with ASD about body changes, and build skills of independence and responsibility for changing hygiene tasks.  Adolescents are expected to have an increased understanding of how their hygiene and appearance impacts how others perceive them and react to them.   Like their neuro-typical peers, teens with ASD often have crushes on others and want to date; this new interest can provide increased motivation to build interpersonal skills including improved awareness of self care as well as better social and conversational skills.  The presenter will use vignettes to illustrate intervention strategies for teaching appropriate behaviors to approach the opposite sex, develop friendships, understand the social norms and unwritten rules around dating, such as teach how to give and receive compliments, and maintain conversations on a date.  The presenter will review topics relating to building appropriate dating skills, teaching social and legal boundaries, developing social supports and creating opportunities to develop dating relationships, as well as deal with rejection.  No discussion about puberty is complete without discussing sexuality, pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, social and legal boundaries and relationships.  Many teens, especially those with ASD, experience depression and anxiety, as well as fears about becoming an adult and worries about what is normal and what is not.  They also face the changing expectations of family members and caregivers.  The presentation will be rounded out with a discussion of the emotional changes in puberty, and how therapists, parents and other caregivers can best support their teens with ASD through this major life transition.

Learning Objectives: