News and Knowledge

In 2013, OAR’s Board of Directors authorized funding for seven new applied autism research studies in 2014. This additional $210,000 in research grants will bring the total funds awarded by OAR to over $3 million since its first grants in January 2003. Starting with this review, we will offer summaries of the newly funded research studies in The OARacle over the next few months.

Sexuality education is particularly important for all adolescents, and poses particular challenges for young adults with ASD. According to research, people form a sense of gender identity and values during the teenage years. Education at this point in development can help individuals make positive choices about their sexual behavior and increase their opportunities for both sexual and nonsexual relationships, notes OAR-funded researcher Rachel Loftin, Ph.D., describing the research project she is undertaking.

Dr. Loftin is a clinical and school psychologist, professor, and the clinical director of the Autism Assessment, Research, Treatment & Services Program at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Ill. Dr. Loftin also received a graduate research grant from OAR in 2004, the program’s inaugural year, while pursuing her doctorate at Indiana University. She is now the second individual, after Scientific Council member Kara Hume, Ph.D., to have received both a graduate research grant and an applied research grant from OAR.

Her project, “Sexuality Education for Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder,” will investigate the outcomes, acceptability, and feasibility of a curriculum to teach comprehensive sexuality education to young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Participants in this pilot study will be 15-19 year old males with confirmed ASD diagnoses.  The curriculum includes information on reproductive and sexual health from experts in both sexuality education and ASD, and will be implemented with by trained educators in a community setting.  Participants will learn about a range of topics (e.g. body parts and function, relationships and dating, and boundary issues) during 14 two-hour sessions that not only include academic-type instruction, but group activities that can help them translate learned information into “real life” scenarios.

Dr. Loftin will use interview and observational data from all stakeholders (including parents and service providers) to determine if the curriculum is both acceptable and feasible.  To evaluate outcomes, she will compare SSKAAT-R (Socio-Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Assessment Tool – Revised) scores of participants before and after the 14-week course, and monitor performance on content-based “quizzes” during the intervention.

There is a tremendous need for interventions that address sexuality (especially the more abstract and social aspects) for young adults with ASD, as parents and educators well know. Dr. Loftin hopes that having a curriculum designed especially for young adults with ASD will lead to positive behavioral outcomes for participants (i.e. reduction in problematic sexual behaviors noted at baseline), and that the model can be replicated for broader use.