Here are a few links I found, not sure they are what you're looking for though.
Autism and Sexual Issues http://groups.msn.com/TheAutismHomePage/autismandsexualissue s.msnw (this page has a link to the following article linked below which gives signs and symptoms of abuse)
Social/Sexual Awareness For Persons With Disabilities http://www.autism.org/sexual.html (this link has a short section on sexual abuse)
Hello all,
I hope this finds everyone doing well.
Ok, my question is...does anyone know or have access to links that could tell me about young autistic children who sexually stim and how to tell that they've not been sexually abused if the child can not talk??? PLEASE let me know!!
I'm very concerned about this subject, so PM me if need be! I LOVE getting PMs anyway!
Thanx
~Take care!~
I noticed that Julian unconciously puts his hands down his pants lately, especially when he has on underwear instead of a pullup. I don't want to make him ashamed, but I don't want this kind of stimming in public, so I just tell him to stop and wash his hands as well. He also recently realized that our daughter willow does NOT have a penis! LOL I was changing her and he looked at her then me and loudly proclaimed, "Willows don't got a penis!" "Whats Willows got?" I then simply and plainly told him that only boys have a penis and only girls have a vagina. He smiled big and told me, "Willows got a vagina, Julians got a penis, Daddys got a penis, Estevens got a penis, Mommys got a vagina!" So now every so often we have to go through this body part discussion. I told his teacher about it before school was out and she said he hadn't mentioned it at school but if he had she didn't know if she could keep from laughing! It was pretty funny. And he is SO proud to know this new bit of information! LOL
Rachelle
Tammy
Oh, have I got a great story about that. Noah started noticing his penis about 4 months ago in a BIG way. He had started asking what things were, and one night in the bathtub he pointed to it and asked what it was. I told him it was his penis. Well, he really liked that word, and kept saying it.I tell my ds he can to it but has it is a bedroom or bathroom thing for home only. I try and provide him with other things when in public... like carrying around some small toys in my purse just in case his hands wander.
I'm also working on the word privacy (one they use at school). Last yr I got a note home about my ds comparing sizes!!!! This was junior kindergarden!!!
Like I stress how important it is for people (especially me) to have privacy in the bathroom... oh to pee in peace .... we will celebrate that day ;)
I absolutely know my son has not been molested and he has been obsessed with his "goods" since about 6-9 months and it has not yet ended and he is 27 months.
I try to keep onesies on him with pants over that, hoping to make access not as easy for him. Not only does it not look nice, but he always postions his penis where, when he urinates, it goes all over.
He does understand "No hands in pants" and will immediately pull out his hand. But within a minute it goes right back. For instance he especially does this when drinking from his bottle. He seems to find this soothing. So I have tried to get him off the bottle, but to no avail. He hates drinking from cups and gets very moody without his bottle several times a day.
He does try to touch his four year old brother's penis from time to time as well and boy does that tweak his brother. It is not an easy situation, but somehow I don't think it is uncommon. None of my kids have ever been in daycare or around any situation that could have influenced this. I am very cautious as to what movies are even watched in my home.
Levi figured this stim out all by himself.
Ok, now i'm not sure about giving any advice because this is not a problem i have with Zach....although he does touch himself when i let him run around with no diaper on due to diaper rash or the day i attempted to potty train... *laughs* notice i said the DAY. But he doesn't do it any other time. So i'm really just trying to throw some ideas out there as a way to help.
Has anyone thought to talk to thier OT therapist or Dr. if they don't have an OT??? I know none of your kids have been sexually abused, or I hope not anyways.... but even Oprah said on a show one time, part of the reason why these kids don't tell and why they continue on with it isn't just because of the threats.... it's because it Does feel good. Maybe your kids fondling themselves is a sensory thing and that is why it is one of thier stims???? I don't know ... just thought I'd throw it out there.
Sarah, I think that is probably pretty accurate. I mean thats why ANYBODY does "it", right? LOL Kids are good at "discovering" things I guess. And I absolutely know that none of my kiddos have been harmed in any way, especially like that. They are always with me, hubby, my mom or school. Even school now teaches safety issues to prek and up. We try to reenforce safety when we can.My daughter (Sharlet almost 3 severe autism) loves things that vibrate. SuchAll boys are FASCINATED with their equipment. Haven't you noticed that in MEN? Their sexual appartus is ALWAYS being stimulated because it hangs outside their bodies. This is a simply biological fact. I have a friend who did something very wise with her PDD-NOS boy that I wish I had done when my son was younger and would have been more likely to comply. Every time she sees her son stick his hands down into his pants outside his bedroom or the bathroom, she matter-of-factly tells him to go wash his hands. This interrupts the sexual stim and also provides a very mild, albeit, effective consequence. I can't start that now with my son because it would cause a battle royale at his age, but he knows by now that this is not acceptable public behavior. That doesn't always stop him, though.
I took my son to a sex ed class at our local autism center. We did the one-on-one class. I learned the most. I was able to ask ALL my questions. I found out that the way they teach autistic young men to use a condom if they eventually get sexual partner is to teach them to masturbate with a condom on. My 15yo is not at the point where he is ejaculating or masturbating to climax. He's still at the "rub the pants a bit" stage. But when he does start ejaculating, I'm going to take him to the sex clinic doctor who will show him how to truly masturbate using a condom. Boy, I didn't know I was going to be signing up for THIS when I chose to have a child! But we have to do what we have to do.
My 7 yr old started to notice his package about a year ago when he began getting "stiffies". Didn't matter if we had company over or if we were in the middle of dinner or something. He'd go upstairs, take off his pull-up and pants and then come down with both legs in one leg of his pants. His word for his penis is "dinghy", so he'd say "big dinghy" and would look at me like make it go away mom!!..lol One day he got so upset about this all i could think of doing was giving him a cold washcloth to help it resolve.
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