Abstract

Sexual education is not part of any formal educational program in Greece and there exist rare researches so far. People with autism have the right to grow up and be treated with respect and dignity in their adult lives and have the right of knowledge in order to be able to control their feelings and have proper social behavior. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the views of parents of children with or without autism in the sexual education of autistic children in school age. The target population was parents of children with autism and of children with typical development at school age, attending educational structures of the Greek state (school age for children with autism in Greece is from 6 to 22 years). The factors examined included the place of residence, the educational level, the profession and the gender of the parents and their views on the sexual education of children with autism. The results showed that older parents of children with or without autism were more progressive about the sexual education of children with autism. Also, the higher educational level of parents was related to greater acceptance of sexual education of children with autism. In conclusion, both groups of parents believe that sex education will help young people with autism make good sexual decisions and develop healthy interpersonal relationships.

Keywords: Children or young people with autism, sexual education, parents, demographic characteristics