This edited collection of contributions explores non-normative genders, sexualities, and relationality among Autistic people. Written within an explicitly neuro-affirmative frame, the collection celebrates the diversity and richness of Autistic identity, sexuality, gender, and relationships, exploring areas such as consent, embodiment, ink, kink, sex education, and therapeutic work. All editors and contributors are neurodivergent and members of the communities that the book focuses on, providing an authentic and unique exploration of gender, sexuality, and relationality in Autistic people by Autistic/other neurodivergent authors. The book is primarily intended for postgraduate students and academics across disciplines including sociology, social work, psychology, disability studies, inclusive and special education, and sexual education. Mental health professionals and educators will also find it a useful resource to support their Autistic clients as well as developing their own understanding about how to support Autistic people in a neurodiversity-affirming, kink-affirming, LGBTQ+, and gender-variant way.

Exploring gender through the lens of field theory, Gender Fields proposes a new framework for understanding the social organisation of gender identity. In conversation with Pierre Bourdieu's field theory, the book conceptualises under-theorised situated dimensions of gender, bridging the gap between macro and micro theories of gender. Drawing on extensive fieldwork conducted over five years in several countries in Europe and beyond, the authors situate gender as a critical site of autonomous socio-political struggle and highlight the centrality of the transgender experience in redefining gendered personhood and freedom. Increased trans visibility catalysed new social and political arenas of contestation that expanded the potential for reimagining gender norms and identities. The authors examine political and legal arenas, the medical field and health markets, gender naming, individual practices, and material-discursive embodiments, offering new insights into gender change. While numerous explanations have been proposed, this book offers a fresh perspective on these revolutionary developments. Gender Fields characterises gender as a field of struggle through a set of basic tools that can be usefully applied to studies in diverse settings. As such, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences with an interest in issues of gender, social theory and identity.

This edited collection of contributions explores non-normative genders, sexualities and relationality among Autistic people.

This book presents a unique exploration of common myths about autism by examining these myths through the perspectives of autistic individuals. Examining the history of attitudes and beliefs about autism and autistic people, this book highlights the ways that these beliefs are continuing to impact autistic individuals and their families, and offers insights as to how viewing these myths from an autistic perspective can facilitate the transformation of these myths into a more positive direction. From ‘savant syndrome’ to the conception that people with autism lack empathy, each chapter examines a different social myth – tracing its origins, highlighting the implications it has had for autistic individuals and their families, debunking misconceptions and reconstructing the myth with recommendations for current and future practice. By offering an alternative view of autistic individuals as competent and capable of constructing their own futures, this book offers researchers, practitioners, individuals and families a deeper, more accurate, more comprehensive understanding of prevalent views about the abilities of autistic individuals as well as practical ways to re-shape these into more proactive and supportive practices.

This book is not only reassuring; it is inspiring, and bursting with ideas and achievable strategies. The authors write with authority and conviction, and tackle even the most difficult and delicate of topics. If ever you needed to be convinced that girls with ASD can overcome the difficulties and challenges of puberty and adolescence, have successful friendships and relationships and enjoy a healthy sexuality, then take the time to read this book - it is a must-have for families, teachers and therapists alike.' -Sarah Attwood, author of Making Sense of Sex: A Forthright Guide to Puberty, Sex and Relationships for People with Asperger's Syndrome Growing up isn't easy, and the trials and tribulations of being a teenager can be particularly confusing for girls with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs). This book covers all the concerns commonly faced by girls with ASDs and their parents, from periods and puberty to worries over friendships and 'fitting in'. Taking a good look at these adolescent issues, and many more, within the context of specific areas of difficulty for girls with ASDs, the authors provide families with the knowledge and advice they need to help their daughters - and the whole family - through the teenage years. This book addresses core issues such as cognition, communication, behavior, sensory sensitivities, and social difficulties; it gives candid and realistic advice on a wide range of important teenage topics. Providing professional perspectives alongside personal experiences from mothers, daughters and educators, this is a unique and indispensible guide for families and their daughters with ASDs, as well as the teachers and professionals who work with them.

Curated by the chief editor of the American Journal of Sexuality Education, this book presents engaging and accessible chapters that capture current and essential research findings from leaders in the sexuality education field. William J. Taverner brings together an impressive array of contributors to help sexuality professionals remain up-to-date on the most relevant issues in sex education today. Covering a spectrum of hot sexuality education topics, including abstinence, gender, innovative programs, pleasure, the politics of sexuality education, porn literacy, sexual orientation, and more, each chapter describes key findings on a particular topic, their significance, their practical application, and how these new developments have arrived. The book includes chapters that address individuals across all age ranges, from children to older adults, as well as sexuality education and training programs for specialized professions, such as nurses and school-based health occupations. Practical and clear, this book identifies priorities and trends in the field, addresses marginalized audiences and overlooked topics, and hopes to encourage important discussions to come. Sex Education Research: A Look Between the Sheets provides a wide range of occupations and academic disciplines with a foundation of research essential to their work, such as public health professionals and students of human sexuality, gender studies, biology, psychology, sociology, as well as community educators, school nurses and health teachers, and administrative leaders affiliated with sexuality education programs at community-based organizations.

This new and important book reformulates the importance of sexuality in psychoanalysis through an integrated theory reflecting contemporary multiculturalism. The disappearance of sex as a drive has been a function of the focus on sex as a relationship. This focus has been a useful antidote to the lack of intersubjectivity that seemed to dominate drive theory, but relational theory has unduly diminished the role of sexual desire. Self-theory has made an attempt to retain a "drive-like" character for sexuality, and in the process made a case for psychic energy, personal agency, and libidinal motivation, but appears to stumble in an excessive emphasis on the power of agency as well as the need to eliminate instinctive causality. This book challenges the prevailing paradigm in psychology in general and psychoanalysis, in particular. That is, the over-reliance on specific theoretical formulations that do not provide adequate opportunities to understand and truly appreciate the dilemma that patients normally bring to a practice.

Challenging existing approaches to autism that limit, and sometimes damage, the individuals who attract and receive the label, this book questions the lazy prejudices and assumptions that can surround autism as a diagnosis in the 21st Century. Arguing that autism can only be understood through examining 'it' as a socially or culturally produced phenomenon, the authors offer a critique of the medical model that has produced a perpetually marginalising approach to autism, and explain the contradictions and difficulties inherent in existing attitudes. They examine and dispute the scientific validity of diagnosis and 'treatment', asking whether autism actually exists at the biological level, and question the value of diagnosis in the lives of those labelled with autism. The book recognises that there are no easy answers but encourages engagement with these essential questions, and looks towards service provision and practice that moves beyond a reliance on all-encompassing labels. This unique contribution to the growing field of critical autism studies brings together authors from clinical psychiatry, clinical and community psychology, social sciences, disability studies, education and cultural studies, as well as those with personal experiences of autism. It is essential and challenging reading for anyone with a personal, professional or academic interest in 'autism'.

An innovative textbook that presents a novel and compelling examination of family communication studies Family Communication as... Exploring Metaphors for Family Communication presents a series of metaphors through which students explore the nuances and complexities of family interaction. With a unique approach to the foundational theories and real-world practices of family communication, this easily accessible textbook helps students develop a clear understanding of what family communication is and what it can be. Contributions by both prominent and newer scholars theorize about family communication, offer new perspectives, challenge long-held assumptions, and describe original research to provide students with an up-to-date representation of the leading thinking in the field. Each concise chapter focuses on a specific element of family life, engaging key metaphors to stimulate classroom discussion about family in contexts ranging from ritual and embodiment to estrangement and heteronormativity. Throughout the text, students examine family metaphorically—as memory, as social identity, as estrangement, as loss, as resilience, as raced, and more. Presents a metaphorical examination of creating, materializing, contextualizing, politicizing, and complicating family communication Offers an innovative alternative to standard textbooks on the subject Features a thorough introduction advocating for the use of metaphors in teaching Discusses the key topics and theoretical approaches that have defined the field Includes detailed references, additional readings, and an instructor’s companion website Family Communication as... Exploring Metaphors for Family Communication is an excellent textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in courses including family communication, family studies, interpersonal communication, relational communication, and communication theory. It is also a highly useful resource for scholars in fields such as media studies, psychology, sociology, social work, counseling, and public health.