What a pleasure and honour to spend a week thinking about wellbeing with this phantastic group of researchers, clinicians and autism advocates!

Thanks to @lorentzcenter.bsky.social!

Thanks to Marthe Reumers, Margot Vandebroeck, Elien Spaey, all participants, Aditi vzw, and my co-authors @ilsenoens.bsky.social and Robin Michiels

The paper highlights several dilemmas in practice, such as balancing guidance with personal preferences, connecting sexual assistance to broader sexual well‑being, and understanding how societal attitudes and legal frameworks shape access to services and sexual rights.

Autistic people and sexual assistants described that sexual assistance can offer a safe space to explore sexuality, fulfil needs, and learn through experience. A trusting relationship, attention to autistic information processing, and strong collaboration with support networks all play a key role.

Most autistic people have interest in and experience with sexuality. Yet some encounter difficulties in gaining sexual experience with a partner in a safe and supportive environment. In some countries, such as in Belgium, sexual assistance can contribute to sexual wellbeing.

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Happy to share our paper on Autism and sexual assistance, just published in @autisminadulthood.bsky.social

journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

@journalautism.bsky.social

Thanks to Robin Michiels and Marie Groffi, @ilsenoens.bsky.social & Paul Enzlin

Stress the importance to tailor support and emphasize the importance of community involvement in addressing the unique challenges autistic individuals face in their gender identity development.

Our findings highlight the need to create safer, more affirming spaces where autistic individuals can explore and discuss who they want to be without pressure or stigma starting from a young age.

- We found differences but also a notable overlap across cis and TGD participants in the underlying processes of development.
- Autism and the timing/meaning of an autism diagnosis were intertwined with the participants’ gender identity development.

Gender identity development was described as a dynamic, ongoing process shaped by individual, social-interactional, and societal factors, as a demanding and unfolding journey to find comfort, balancing black-and-white thinking, a need for clarity and embracing uniqueness within societal expectations

Gender identity development in autistic individuals: An interview study - Robin Michiels, Marie Groffi, Jeroen Dewinter, Ilse Noens, Paul Enzlin, 2026 Autistic individuals report more gender-related questions and gender incongruence compared to non-autistic peers. However, research on gender identity in autist...

Our paper on how both cisgender, and trans and gender-diverse (TGD) autistic individuals experienced their gender identity development over time was published today! doi.org/10.1177/1362...

Identification of Capabilities of Autistic Young Adults: Towards an Understanding of Autistic Flourishing - Child Psychiatry & Human Development Views on autism shifted from a biomedical view to a neurodiversity-framework, with a parallel change in views on the nature of wellbeing. In this qualitative study the Capability Approach (CA), a theo...

Happy to share our paper on the capability approach as a framework to think about and discuss wellbeing with autistic young adults and their networks.
link.springer.com/article/10.1...

LAVA Scholarship 2025 Wat een dag.

Proud to be the laureate of the first ever LAVA Scholarship for autistic researchers! Upon request: a link to the written version of my acceptance speech in Dutch, with English translation.

kathetgedacht.com/2025/02/22/l...

Thank you! I hope to honour this scholarship and the autistic community.

Congrats again @kathetgedacht.bsky.social! I was impressed and moved by your words. Happy to share them!

yes! interviews in English

Contact: For more info, fill out forms.office.com/e/iQn0pkxgQu
Or write to Themistoklis Pantazakos – ucrhtpa@ucl.ac.uk or +306973396440 (WhatsApp).
@themispant.bsky.social , @gertjanvanaken.bsky.social , @ilsenoens.bsky.social

Requirements:
      Autistic adults: Have been in psychotherapy for at 2-3 months.
      Psychotherapists: Have worked with at least 3 autistic clients over the last 10 years, using a psychotherapeutic approach with established clinical efficacy.

We are looking for pairs of therapists and clients. You will be asked to describe your experience of psychotherapy, minor and major changes, as well as what did and didn’t work according to your perspective.

Are you an autistic adult who is or has been in psychotherapy? Or, are you a therapist who works with autistic adults?
Take part in this interview study and help us better adjust psychotherapy for the autistic population.

A Critical Analysis of How Local Autism Strategies Represent Autistic Adults’ Intimate Lives | Autism in Adulthood Background: Intimate relationships are an important, yet ordinary, part of many people’s lives. However, autistic people experience greater challenges around sex and intimate relationships and more lo...

How do autism charities prioritize support for the intimate lives of autistic people? Jay et al critically reviewed all publicly available local autism strategies in England and found a clear lack of of positive and proportionate representations of intimate lives. www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/...

@hannejacobs.bsky.social