BIRMINGHAM, UK: At present, there is very little research on the question of sex and relationships education and individuals with ASD or Asperger’s syndrome.
 
The study aims to identify the SRE learning needs of  students with ASD, examine the support needs of the parents seeking to provide SRE for their children with ASD and investigate whether it is possible to meet those needs using the SRE resources currently available in the UK.
 
This study will focus initially on SRE from a parental perspective, examining the support needs of parents living in the UK in relation to the SRE of their sons/ daughters with ASD, as identified by the parents themselves. The study will also consist of a comprehensive content analysis of a sample of the SRE resources presently available to parents, with a view to establishing whether or not these resources are accessible to students with ASD, or ‘ASD-friendly’. This analysis will include resources aimed at mainstream, learning disabled, and ASD students.  
 
Anne Newman is hoping to recruit parents of youngsters aged between 11 and 18 plus to fill out a short online survey, which should take no more than 10 minutes to complete. The survey will be completely anonymous. To take part, please go to the following web page:
 
http://survey.2ask.net/60f7a47bdab9c332/survey.html
 
This is a short-term survey, which will end on March 14, 2009.
 
This study is part of a Masters dissertation that is being undertaken by Anne Newman at Birmingham University. For further information, please contact Anne Newman via e-mail at
annenewman39@hotmail.com
 
Jenny Coffey at Birmingham University is supervising this work.

(Source: Awares, March 2, 2009)