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The following is a review article on psychosexual development and functioning of persons with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD). The article discusses how the diagnosed qualities of the autistic spectrum in two main areas, i.e. difficulties in social contacts and specific behaviors (according to DSM-5), affect the development of psychosexual experiences. The first area encompasses: difficulties in building relationships with peers, problems in nonverbal communication, deficits in social skills such as compliance with social rules in relationships and empathy. The second area includes the role of specific interests, adherence to routine and specificity of sensory functioning (being oversensitive or undersensitive). The article examines the significance of following the rules, honesty, responsibility, altruism, and disorders (such as anxiety and depression) in persons with ASD for their social and psychosexual functioning. The main aspects of psychosexual experiences investigated in the article are: gender and sexual identity, partner relationships (friendships and intimate relationships), sexual behaviors (in a relationship, outside the relationship, like masturbation). Within these aspects categories of experiences, sensations, needs, attitudes, desires, expectations, and difficulties are analyzed. Special attention was devoted to adolescence in persons with ASD. Differences in experiences of persons with ASD were presented with reference to the complexity and variety of autistic spectrum disorders both in the quantitative and the qualitative dimension. Thorough assessment of the situation, including individual possibilities and limitations, and their environmental determinants is crucial to really understand the issue and avoid taking a stereotypical approach to interpreting problems related to i.e. emotional-affectionate experiences of persons with ASD.

The following article discusses the relationship between the model of intellectual disability and the attitudes towards sexuality of people with disabilities. This correlation has been verified during the author’s own research conducted on students of several medical faculties such as nursing, public health, emergency medical services and physiotherapy. Tools of the author’s design have been used in the research. Likert-type scale “Perspective of intellectual disability” has been used to determine the model of disability seen from the medical (individual) or social perspective. To examine the attitudes towards sexuality two tools of the author’s own design have been used: a Likert-type scale “The essence of sexuality in persons with an intellectual disability” which has been used to analyze the cognitive aspect of the attitudes, and a semantic differential with notions concerning physical and psychosocial aspects of sexuality including the affective-evaluative aspect. As expected, significant correlations have been found between the model and the attitudes both in the cognitive and the affective-evaluative aspect. Higher scores for the individual model correlated with: (a) lover scores for most aspects of sexuality of people with intellectual disability, (b) perceiving them as asexual, (c) biological determinism in the sexual sphere. The social model concurred with positive values given to sexuality of people with intellectual disability and its normalization in the sphere of its determinants and symptoms.

The article is a research report from a study on selected groups of specialists’ attitudes towards sexuality of people with intellectual and physical disabilities. 98 persons, including special educators, social workers, nurses and physiotherapists, completed semantic differentials of the author’s design. The Author’s own research concerned a broader meaning of sexuality taking into account its physical and psychosocial aspects. Sexual behavior, partnerships, contraception and sex education were among the concepts analyzed on the constructed differential. It was concluded that specialist respondents show more consent (stronger acceptance and more positive evaluation) to most aspects of sexuality of physically but not people with intellectual disabilities. Only sterilization is more accepted by them in relation to individuals with intellectual disability.

The article discusses parenting of individuals with disability. It was based on the perspective of barriers, which (next to the perspective of risk and the functional perspective) marks the nature of discourse this theme takes in the literature on the subject and in practice. The perspective of barriers, related to the social model of disability, emphasizes the social factors important for the quality of parenting of individuals with disability. These factors were analyzed on the basis of available research results with mothers and fathers with disability, and able-bodied individuals who are part of their professional and non-professional environment. The article draws attention to the specificity of socialization of individuals with disability and its significance for preparations for family roles, social attitudes towards disabled individuals’ parenting, and their determinants. It also presents disabled parents’ experiences and the importance of realizing their role of a mother or father.