Resumo

SILVA, Graziela Mezin da  e  TILIO, Rafael De. Discourses of Family Members about the Sexuality of Autistic Subjects. Rev. Subj. [online]. 2021, vol.21, n.2, pp. 1-16. ISSN 2359-0769.  http://dx.doi.org/10.5020/23590777.rs.v21i2.e11018.

Diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder have increased considerably in recent years, and often, autistic subjects are considered by their families as sexually infantile or uncontrolled - a fact questioned by psychoanalysis. This study aimed to investigate family members' discourses about the sexuality of autistic subjects. Sixteen respondents (two autistic subjects, eight mothers, three fathers, two brothers, and a grandfather of autistic subjects) participated in this research, all inserted in nuclear family formats whose reports were organized from thematic content analysis and analyzed from the theory of four discourses by Lacan. The main themes and speeches produced by the participants were organized into thematic axes that highlighted: the doubts and questions justified by the mismatches between the psychological, physical, and sexual development of autistic subjects; the assumption of biological immaturity and attitudinal inadequacies of autistic subjects in sexual issues; the reinforcement of traditional gender roles, delegating to mothers the intimate care of autistic children and delegating to fathers the stimulus for the virility of male autistic subjects; but also - mainly on the part of the siblings - the possibility for autistic subjects to experience their sexualities autonomously, even if referenced in neurotypical and heterosexual schemes. In this sense, the tensions between the discourses of the master and university discourse (which aim to control) and the discourse of psychoanalysis (which bets on the autonomy/uniqueness of autistic subjects in the field of sexuality) were the most evident in the interviews. Finally, the Lacanian theory of the four discourses proved to be adequate to understand the constitution of the social bonds that organize the sexual experiences of autistic subjects.

Palavras-chave : autism; sexuality; discourse theory.

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