The Autism Spectrum, Sexuality & The Law
The Autism Spectrum, Sexuality & the Law is a great introduction to how individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are affected by sexuality exploration, sexual offenses and the ramifications of therapists practicing outside of their scope.
In addition, the need for proper guidance and education for the use of pornography. Nick Dubin is the individual that had the unfortunate experience with misguided exploration of his sexuality. Throughout the book, he details his struggles with ASD and how he maneuvered throughout life with unasked questioned about himself, ASD and his sexuality.
Since the inception of his awareness regarding his sexuality, he never knew how to articulate it until he was an adult. Even though from a developmental standpoint, he was younger.
One concept to understand is fixation. When it comes to fixation, individuals with ASD become hypervigilant or obsessed with a subject they are interested in.
The part that lead him to his demise was when he was seeing two therapists. One that specialized in ASD and another was assisting him with sexuality exploration.
Nick was just getting his feet wet with exploring whether he was a homosexual or not.
The therapist that didn’t specialize with ASD, told Nick to look into pornography.
This was the slope. We do not know what was told to Nick during the session(s) but as Nick was diving into pornography, he started to look at pornography online then Nick ended up looking at child pornography. This lead to his arrest.
My Viewpoint on The Autism Spectrum, Sexuality & the Law
From my experience, working with individuals on the spectrum that have committed sexual offenses. One concept to understand is fixation. When it comes to fixation, individuals with ASD become hypervigilant or obsessed with a subject they are interested in.
For example, if Nick was interested in dinosaurs, he would constantly research, watch movies and documentaries about dinosaurs for hours. Nick became fixated on the pornography that he was looking at and fell down the rabbit hole of random site clicking. This is a recipe for disaster.
With random site clicking, an individual could be clicking on unpopular or fringe sites without realizing it, which have a risk of displaying unregulated (not even sure if regulated sites are really regulated) content that could be considered child sexual abuse media.
After Nick committed these crimes, he proceeded with therapy and other legal stipulations.
He has written this book which is very insightful that describes not only life with ASD but also what happens when some people with ASD encounter pornography without understanding what it really is and how to utilize pornography safely.
I have recommended this book to the parents of my clients with ASD that have committed sexual offenses or problematic sexual behaviors.
Who is this book for?
This is a book that should be read to educate lawyers, mental health professionals and other individuals that want to further understand ASD. This book can also be used to exemplify how important psychosexual education is for everyone.
This issue shows that education is needed regarding the use of pornography.
We all know that pornography is out there, but we also know that child sexual abuse media is also and seeps it’s way through some of the popular and unpopular search engines. The more we could inform people on healthy portrayal of sexuality in pornography and general use of pornography, hopefully this could decrease these misguided usages of pornography and unintended viewing of child abuse media.
For more insights into therapeutic themes in movies and TV, check out my podcast, Watch This with Eli here on my website or wherever you find your favorite podcasts!
Are you or a loved one struggling with addiction, intrusive thoughts, or inappropriate sexual behavior? Schedule an appointment with Eli through Sexual Addiction Treatment Services.
