Laurel House has partnered with the Daniel Morcombe Foundation to host a series of free Bright Futures workshops for professionals in Burnie and Launceston.
Readily available and aggressively marketed online, exposure to pornography is now mainstream. Consumption – particularly for young men – has become normalised. Pornography has become a default sex educator for many young people, with serious implications for their capacity to negotiate free and full consent, for mutual respect, sexual health, and gender equality.
For autistic young people – and other neurodivergent young people – pornography’s influence can be even more challenging. Monotropism, the key characteristic of autism, can lead to autistic young people being particularly vulnerable to the impacts of pornography. The messages conveyed by pornography can be a source of confusion and concern, and shape unrealistic and unhealthy sexual understandings and expectations. At its worst, pornography exposure can increase the likelihood of neurodivergent young people becoming a victim or perpetrator of a sexual crime.
This full day workshop will explore pornography’s prevalence and influence, its implications for neurodivergent young people – with a focus on autistic young people – and how we can support them to navigate respectful, consenting and safe sexuality and relationships in this new reality. It is suitable for anyone working with neurodivergent young people, in violence prevention or in policy in related areas.
The content that will be delivered in this session was developed through the Porn Is Not the Norm (PINN) project which was supported by Interchange Outer East.
Presenters
Maree Crabbe
Director at It’s time we talked – Young people, pornography and sexuality
Maree Crabbe is Director of the Australian violence prevention initiative, It’s time we talked. She is an educator, author and filmmaker who is passionate about gender-based violence prevention, and about supporting parents, schools, communities and government to address pornography’s influence on young people.
Associate Professor Wenn Lawson
(PhD), AFBPsS. MAPs – Autistic Consultant and Independent Researcher
Associate Professor Wenn Lawson is an autistic expert in autism. He is also a researcher, British psychologist, poet and author. He is a family man with autistic children and grandchildren. In 2021, Wenn won the Lesley Hall disability leadership lifetime achievement award and in 2023 he won the US Autism award for Autism Advocacy. Wenn is passionate about all things LGBTQIA+ and autism.
