OARacle Newsletter

Autism Training for Sexual Assault Counselors is designed for college sexual assault counselors to provide them with information about autism and guidance on working with autistic survivors of sexual assault. The 90-minute training includes three modules:

1. Autism
2. Sexual assault and autism
3. Counseling sexual assault survivors who are autistic  

The modules are designed to provide learners with:  

• Foundational knowledge about autism 
• An understanding of the sexual assault prevention and response barriers that exist for disabled students on campus  
• Potential solutions to some of those barriers 
• Strategies and tools for providing more responsive and accessible counseling services to autistic survivors of sexual assault on campus 

Researchers at Boston University created this free online resource with funding provided by OAR. The team included six autistic people with relevant experience, two autism researchers, one sexual violence prevention expert, and a team of online education experts.  

For more information about the resource, email Emily Rothman, Sc.D., at erothman@bu.edu.