(PS4-26) Autistic Perspectives on the Relationship Between Autism and Gender Diversity

Autistic individuals are significantly more likely to identify as gender-diverse, with prior research citing approximately 11.4% of the community identifying outside of the gender binary. As such, there is increasing interest in this population, both in their identity development and behavioral health outcomes. Prior research has described how many discredit the identities of autistic people whose genders do not align with their sex assigned at birth, due to stigma against those with neurodevelopmental disabilities. Speculation as to why there are high rates of gender diverse autistic people often excludes the lived experiences and perspectives of autistic people. In order to combat the long history of autistic people being left out of conversations that focus on them, it is important to center their experiences in research that pertains to them. Therefore, the current study seeks to center autistic peoples’ perspectives in investigating the relationship between gender diversity and autism. To assess this relationship, 96 gender-diverse autistic individuals completed several open ended questions in an online survey broadly related to their gender-diverse and autistic identities. The present project examines the qualitative responses of autistic adolescents and young adults regarding the potential influence of their autistic identity on their co-occurring gender-diverse identity. Additionally, participants discussed their willingness to disclose their gender identity as well as their experiences regarding caregiver attitudes toward their gender diversity and autism. Qualitative responses will be coded using thematic analysis to determine frequently endorsed themes across participants regarding their gender diverse and autistic identities and common experiences related to their marginalized identities. Results from the current study will lead to a better understanding of a group with dually marginalized identities which may improve our understanding of their identity development and mental health outcomes. Implications of results will be discussed and used to guide psychotherapeutic practices and future research.