Study: autism, gender and presenting as 'normal'

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Hi! I'm new here - I'm non-binary, ace-spec and autistic (I was diagnosed aged 21), though I couldn't get the account creator to accept gender is not binary...

Starting from my own experiences, I'm now carrying out research on autistic women, trans and NB people’s experiences of presenting as socially ‘normal’ - particularly focused on exploring how this intersects with gender. The study is for my undergraduate dissertation for my degree in politics, sociology and anthropology. I'm looking for people to get involved and I'd love it if anyone here would consider taking part! Even if not, I would also love to start a discussion on the subject

Personally, I'm both intrigued and unsurprised by recent studies suggesting a high correlation between trans and NB gender identification and being autistic (I can link below). Whilst I feel these kinds of studies can verge on pathologising/over-medicalising queer identities as well as autism, they also highlight something I was already interested in: the strong parallels between masking, trans/NB gender passing and issues of gender normativity more generally. I'd be really interested to hear what you all think about what the connections might be

I’m passionate about challenging the dominant ways in which autism is understood. I hope that a study by an autistic person with other autistic people on our experiences about (neuro)typicality will be one way to do this. I’m trying to put make research that says there should be “nothing about us without us”

As I said above, I’m specifically looking to work with autistic women, trans and non-binary people diagnosed in adulthood. If that describes you, I’d love it if you’d consider taking part! I’m focusing mainly on carrying out some interviews (one on one). If you’re interested, please get in touch either by message or my email and we can talk more

I might also get in touch to ask members of the community about whether they would be happy to be quoted in my work. If so, I’ll might be in touch directly. In any case, I’m trying to ensure personal privacy to the best of my ability for everyone.

I have a website with more information, but I'm not sure the rules permit me to post the address. If you'd like more information, email me. If you’re interested in being interviewed or have any questions, I have a secure email address: [email protected]

The formal conditions for taking part are that you should:
• Identify as a woman, as trans or as non-binary
• Be aged 18 or over
• Have been diagnosed with Autism-Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Asperger’s or a related diagnosis, at around 18 or over (can be a bit flexible here)

Please email or send a message if you've got any questions!

Thanks for reading:)

I identify as Non-Binary, but was diagnosed with ASD as a child. I also only really realised that I was Non-Binary in the last couple of years, only coming out today to people around me. So I don't know how well I would fit your study.

Hi:) I'm going to private message you - I'm really interested in your perspective, so I'd love to have a further conversation

Yeah, they don't have a non binary option here, or anything beyond male/female. I find it bizarre. The best option I could figure was not selecting either. I have no idea why it's like that.

Anyway, I am non binary and I was diagnosed with pdd-nos as an adult. I forget when, exactly. It was either in my late twenties or early thirties. As for masking, I'm not sure how much of that I do or have ever done, so I have no idea how that impacts my gender identity or lack there of. I suppose that comes down to how you define masking though.

Although my profile says "male" I identify as NB ( I can't be bothered with all the pronouns stuff). However I wasn't diagnosed until my 40's. Am I too much of an old fart for your study? Feel free to PM me if I fit your criteria