Puberty, personal hygiene and sex can be difficult topics to broach with your child, especially when they have an intellectual disability or autism. The authors of this guide provide honest answers to challenging questions and provide solutions to the dilemmas that many parents face on a daily basis. Structured around issues related to puberty and emerging sexuality in children with disabilities or autism, such as physical changes, mood swings and sexual behaviour, the book presents case studies alongside practical guidance on how to overcome problems that commonly arise. The book also explains laws relevant to disability and sexuality and suggests appropriate sex education programmes to meet the needs of differing degrees of disability.

Children and adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) require specialized teaching strategies when learning about puberty, sexuality and relationships. This professional resource offers practical teaching advice geared towards the needs of young people on the autism spectrum. Beginning with information on good practice, policy, teaching methods and recent research, the book then divides into key sex education topics that assist professionals in developing their own individualized and developmentally appropriate curricula. Covering issues of gender, public and private, puberty, hygiene, emotions, sex and more, each topic provides an overview of the difficulties that children with autism might experience, discussion and activity ideas and photocopiable resources including instructional stories, checklists and illustrations. The final section demonstrates how to respond to ongoing patterns of inappropriate behaviour and put together a behaviour plan. Aiming to explain and support the child's developing sexuality while also addressing crucial issues of safety, this book is a much-needed teaching manual for all professionals working with children and young adults with autism including educators in mainstream and special education, psychologists, therapists and social workers.

Approximately 2.5 million people in the United States--one percent of the population--have an intellectual disability (previously referred to as mental retardation). These conditions range from genetic disorders such as Down syndrome to disabilities caused by infectious diseases and brain injury. Intellectual Disability: A Guide for Families and Professionals, by one of the country's foremost authorities on intellectual disability, is a comprehensive resource that will be of importance to anyone with a personal connection to a child or adult with a neurodevelopmental disorder. Emphasizing the humanity of persons with intellectual and related developmental disabilities, psychiatrist and pediatrician James Harris provides essential information on assessment and diagnosis of intellectual disability, treatments for specific disorders, and ways to take advantage of the wide array of services available today. The focus throughout is on the development of the person, the positive supports necessary for self-determination, and, to the extent possible, independent decision making. Harris also surveys historical attitudes toward intellectual disability, the medical community's current understanding of its causes and frequency, and the associated physical, behavioral, and psychiatric conditions (such as seizure disorder, depression, and autism) that often accompany particular types of intellectual disability. The book addresses legal, medical, mental health, and research-related issues as well as matters of spirituality, highlighting the ways in which individuals with intellectual disability can meaningfully participate in the spiritual lives of their families and their communities. Each chapter ends with a series of key points to remember, and the book concludes with a list of additional resources of further interest. Intellectual Disability is a must-read for parents and families of those with neurodevelopmental disorders, providing guidance and essential information to help their family members effectively, and to make a significant, positive difference in their lives now and in the future.

Addressing the gender gap in the understanding of autism, this multi-perspective book explores the educational needs of girls on the autism spectrum from early years to secondary school, in both mainstream and special settings. The collection, comprising insights from autistic women and girls and educational and medical professionals makes recommendations for a collaborative and integrated approach that enables girls on the spectrum to reach their full potential. By establishing close collaborations between girls on the spectrum, their parents, teachers and specialist professionals, the field can move forwards in terms of providing understanding and an appropriate educational framework for success.

This warm and sympathetic book is designed to help parents build their children's self-esteem (whether their children are prepubescent or already adults) and educate them about sexuality and safety. It explains what to teach, when to teach and how to teach. It addresses issues such as self-acceptance, values, parallel talk, privacy, appopriate behaviour, abuse, physical and emotional development in the teen years, relationships, marriage and parenting. The authors introduce guides - individuals with disabilities and their parents - whose experiences serve as examples throughout the book. These guides, as well as the authors' anecdotes and conversational tone, make information that is often presented awkwardly (or not at all) easily accessible to parents. The information and the stories that show how much is possible for young people, regardless of their disabilities, will help parents to accept their children's sexual development and to interact with their children in ways that will allow them to develop into confident, aware adults.

Intimate self-touch and masturbation can pose many difficulties for people with learning disabilities and/or on the autistic spectrum, particularly when it happens in public settings. This frank and thorough guide looks at societal, cultural and religious views of masturbation, how teens develop into sexual beings, the right to be sexual, how to masturbate, appropriate public and private behaviour, professional responsibilities and boundaries, and legal aspects of this topic. It also contains good practice responses providing examples of the issues and solutions in action.

Understand the unique needs of teens and adults with autism and how to adapt existing library programs to be more inclusive. Autism spectrum disorder is a lifelong condition, but programs and services are mostly for children. As this population ages and the number of adults receiving autism diagnoses grows, are public libraries serving this group? Serving Teens and Adults on the Autism Spectrum offers practical strategies for delivering better service to individuals with autism, from library programming to technology, collections, library volunteers, and the information desk. Relying on feedback and help from the autism community in her area, Carrie Rogers-Whitehead created programs for children, teens, and young adults on the autism spectrum. In this book, she shares advice on developing programs that focus on teamwork, transitions, and social skills. She explains best practices for reference interviews and teaches readers how their libraries can partner with nonprofit and government entities to develop workforce skills and connect adults with autism to jobs. Ready-made program activities for teens and adults with autism make it easy for libraries to better serve this often misunderstood group.