Webinar Description

We know that a substantial number of autistic people are sexually-diverse (e.g., gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, asexual) or gender-diverse (e.g., transgender, gender non-conforming), but what do we know about their mental and physical health? Dr. Graham Holmes will discuss the current state of the literature and present findings from two studies that used innovative methods to learn about health disparities for this population. The first study investigated suicidality disparities among autistic versus non-autistic sexually-diverse and gender-diverse youth using a U.S. national sample recruited via social media. The second study investigated mental and physical health disparities more broadly among autistic sexually-diverse and gender-diverse adults versus cisgender heterosexual adults using electronic health record data. Clinical implications will be discussed.

Presenters 

Laura Graham Holmes received her Ph.D. at the University of Utah in Clinical Psychology with a clinical child and families specialization. She completed her clinical internship and fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) as a fellow of the Leadership in Education for Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) interdisciplinary training program and the CHOP Center for Autism Research. She completed additional postdoctoral research fellowships at the A. J. Drexel Autism Institute and the Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH). Dr. Graham Holmes is an interdisciplinary scholar and educator whose mission is to facilitate health and flourishing among autistic people using neurodiversity-affirming, community-engaged approaches and to build capacity among healthcare professionals to support this diverse population. Dr. Graham Holmes develops and implements peer-facilitated interventions for autistic people that address overlooked, critical needs in the community. She focuses on community-defined priorities including healthy relationships, sexual and reproductive health, substance use disorder prevention, and the ways that identity shapes health. 

Lindsey Nebecker, BA

Cori Fraser, LSW

Please Note

• CART captioning will be provided. For additional disability accommodations please email Elizabeth Schnieder at [email protected] two weeks prior to the event with name of event and accommodation preference in your response.
• There is no cost for this webinar.
• CEUs are not offered for this webinar.
• This webinar will be held on the Zoom Platform. You can test your connection with Zoom before joining the meeting here.
• This webinar will be archived available on the AUCD Webinar Library.