Understanding the perceptions of individuals with an intellectual disability and autism spectrum disorder regarding love and romantic relationships

Abstract This qualitative research investigated the understanding and perceptions of love and romantic relationships of six individuals with intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of the study was to see how individuals with ID and ASD understood romantic relationships. This was tested by having semi-structured interviews with themes that were supposed to reflect the topic. The result showed that participants had similar perceptions of love and romantic relationships. Also, sex education for these individuals should be improved, as the participants found it unsatisfactory. Participants would like to have more education about spiritual matters, like communication. There was a diversity in the sexuality of participants, as half of the group of participants reported being attracted to both biological genders. Most participants reported having a good friend and understanding the difference between a friend and a lover. This indicates that sex education on this issue should be improved, and further studies on this topic seeing the point of view of these individual groups are needed. That could help individuals increase their quality of life. Keywords: intellectual disability, autism spectrum disorder, romantic relationships, sex educationÚtdráttur Þessi eigindlega rannsókn skoðaði skilning og skynjun einstaklinga með þroskahömlun og einhverfurófsröskun á ást og rómantískum samböndum. Tilgangur rannsóknar var að skoða hvernig þessir einstaklingar skyldu ást og rómantísk sambönd. Niðurstöður sýndu að þátttakendur höfðu svipaðan skilning á ást og rómantískum samböndum. Einnig að þátttakendum þóttu kynfræðslan þeirra vera ófullnægjandi. Þátttakendur hefðu viljað fá meiri fræðslu um andleg málefni, eins og samskipti. Það var fjölbreytni í kynhneigð þátttakanda, þar sem helmingur þátttakanda löðuðust að báðum líffræðilegum kynjum. Flestir þátttakendur greindu frá því að eiga góðan vin, ásamt því að skilja muninn á vin og elskhuga. Þetta bendir til þess að bæta ætti kynfræðslu þessara einstaklinga í okkar samfélagi, sem og að gera frekari rannsóknir til skoða sjónarhorn einstaklingana á þessu viðfangsefni. Það gæti hjálpað þessum hóp einstaklinga að auka lífsgæði sín. Efnisorð: þroskahömlun, einhverfurófsröskun, rómantísk sambönd, kynfræðsl