2017/12/31 by Daniel Schöttle, Peer Briken, Oliver Tüscher +1 · 5 citations
Medicine · Neuroscience · Psychology · #Audiology #Autism #Autism Spectrum Disorder Research #Autism spectrum disorder #Clinical psychology #Developmental psychology #High-functioning autism #Human sexuality #Medicine #Obsessive-Compulsive Spectrum Disorders #Psychology #Sexual behavior #Sexuality, Behavior, and Technology
paper · doi:10.31887/dcns.2017.19.4/dschoettle
openalex publication_date 2017/12/31 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
Like nonaffected adults, individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) show the entire range of sexual behaviors. However, due to the core symptoms of the disorder spectrum, including deficits in social skills, sensory hypo- and hypersensitivities, and repetitive behaviors, some ASD individuals might develop quantitatively above-average or nonnormative sexual behaviors and interests. After reviewing the relevant literature on sexuality in high-functioning ASD individuals, we present novel findings on the frequency of normal sexual behaviors and those about the assessment of hypersexual and paraphilic fantasies and behaviors in ASD individuals from our own study. Individuals with ASD seem to have more hypersexual and paraphilic fantasies and behaviors than general-population studies suggest. However, this inconsistency is mainly driven by the observations for male participants with ASD. This could be due to the fact that women with ASD are usually more socially adapted and show less ASD symptomatology. The peculiarities in sexual behaviors in ASD patients should be considered both for sexual education and in therapeutic approaches.