Sexual Deviation in ASD Teens and Young Adults
"Do some teens with ASD make awkward advances to the opposite sex, which are viewed as harassment? Our 17 y.o. was recently called down to the Dean's office for 'making inappropriate advances' to a girl he has a crush on!" Perhaps the most obvious trait of Asperger’s (AS) and High Functioning Autism (HFA) is impairment of two-way social interaction. This is not due primarily to a desire to withdraw from social contact. Rather, the problem arises from a lack of ability to understand and use the rules governing social behavior. These rules are complex, unwritten and unstated, constantly changing, and affect choice of clothing, eye contact, gesture, movement, posture, proximity to others, speech, and many other aspects of behavior. The degree of skill in this area varies among “typical” people, but those with AS and HFA are outside the normal range, for example: Many are over-sensitive to criticism and suspicious of others. Some have a history of rather bi