Lgbt and Autism connection

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Has anyone noticed that a lot of autistic people are LGBT? I think that all of the autistic people I've met are LGBT and I was wondering if anyone had any theories or shared the same idea?

I did notice a lot of that too. I wouldn't dare to correlate LGBT+ with Autism. Just like anyone, we are fluid as individuals in all departments of ourselves. I feel like having a disability teaches us at an earlier phase in life to come to terms with our identity and branch out beyond ourselves to see what fits. People are beginning to discover themselves further in depth around this generation of people.

Actually, I think there is a correlation. My therapist said there are an above-average number of autistic individuals who are LGBT, and I've read it in other places as well.

Research studies (including https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4345542/ among others) have shown that 7 to 10 percent of autistic individuals are also gender dysphoric, and just as many gender dysphoric individuals are autistic. The rate is slightly higher among females. As for sexual orientation, that hasn't been studied as such. But, anecdotally, many autists see more LGBT individuals among their autistic cohorts.

Thank you all!! Your replies were very interesting!!

There is certainly a connection.

All the autistic people I've met (in real life) identify as bisexual.

There's definitely an association with transsexuality, statistically. And anecdotally I've noticed proportionally more bi, gay, and lesbian people who are autistic. I'm a borderline-lesbian myself, and trans-adjacent since I was born intersex and don't fully feel comfortable with the gender binary.

I'd guess the most likely explanation is that we're less encumbered by social norms, so we're more willing to admit things that might otherwise be taboo or embarrassing about ourselves. If true, that'd mean there are roughly as many neurotypical people with LGBT leanings, but they have more desire to bury it.

There is definitely a connection between autism and gender dysphoria. Several studies have shown that transgender kids show far more autistic traits than would be statistically expected. I'm not so sure about sexuality. I wonder if it has anything to do with us not following accepted social norms, including those expecting people to be straight and cisgender. As someone struggling with gender identity myself, this aspect of autism does fascinate me.

I've noticed that many Aspies tend to be LGBT as well. I'm gay and I know several other Aspies who are bi/gay. I have a theory that it's because we're naturally more open-minded and willing to explore those same-sex feelings.

I am willing to acknowledge that there are several significant differences between between just being LGBT and just being on the Autism Spectrum. However, I do think there may, at the very least, be a correlation between being gender identity and ASD.

there is a style like that, but i think it might be a coincidence in alot of cases....... i mean, im not disproving anything haha as im gay so im just reinforcing it. but my best friend isnt gay, he's straight (if not a bit bi curious from his comments on some male characters haha)and he's autistic too.

The latest:


http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archi ... ty/507509/

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/articl ... Hellemans1

See "Sexual preferences"