UBC Press Sexuality and Relationship Education for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders book Paperback

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.

Davida Hartman is a Senior Educational Psychologist in the Developmental and ASD Psychology Department for Carlow and Kilkenny, Irish Health Service Executive. She also consults, lectures and provides training on a range of topics related to supporting and educating children with ASD and other developmental disabilities. She has been working with children and adolescents with ASD for fifteen years as a psychologist and a teacher. Davida received her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Trinity College Dublin, her MA in Educational Psychology from University College Dublin, and she is a Registered Psychologist with the Psychological Society of Ireland (PSI). She is the author of Sexuality and Relationship Education for Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders also published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Her website can be visited at www.autismsexeducation.com. She lives in Kilkenny, Ireland. Kate Brangan is an Irish graphic designer and illustrator, currently based in London, where she is completing an MA in Communication Design at Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design.