“You Don’t ‘Just Know’”: Difficulties in Determining Desire, Recognizing Trauma, and Accessing High-Quality Sexual Education in Neurodiverse Young Adults

Prior literature has indicated that autistic students report unsatisfactory sexual education experiences and may also be at greater risk of both sexual assault victimization and perpetration than non-autistic peers. Current mixed methods findings combine data from two related studies to explore satisfaction with sexual education among autistic and non-autistic college students. Findings support hypotheses that autistic students are less satisfied with consent education than non-autistic peers. Qualitatively, a theme of difficulties in identifying one’s own desire to consent was observed across groups. Within the autistic group, a theme of delayed recognition of sexual assault was observed. Findings support the importance of early and comprehensive sexual education and suggest further attention may be needed to support students in navigating healthy sexual decision-making.