Towards defining and understanding autistic gender

Towards defining and understanding autistic gender The history of autism diagnosis is full of gendered stereotypes. For decades it was considered a mostly male condition, with predominant theories in the field, such as the Extreme Male Brain Theory, reinforcing that stereotype further. There has been an increasing interest recently on how autism presents itself in women and girls, which has only reinforced gendered stereotypes. This discourse has largely been set in place in the absence of autistic voices and consequently is an outsider’s view of autism. On the other hand, autistic people and spaces seem to approach gender differently. In my own research, which was conducted on autistic individuals raised as girls, the participants stated that they don’t identify with the typical presentation of the female gender, with many of them identifying themselves as bigender, agender, genderqueer etc. Similarly, in autistic organised spaces, such as Autscape, gender identity is not essentialised on taken for granted, rather individuals are encouraged to declare which gender they identify with. Autism studies also lack interdisciplinarity, with the majority of research funded focusing on children and educational interventions as well as a quest to understand the biology of autism. Research in adults is considerably disproportionate and there seems to be minimal focus on how to help autistic people develop a strong sense of self and identity. Autistic people are constantly, directly and indirectly, asked to change, control or hide key parts of their identity and living in a world where they are deprived of the human right for self-determination, they are short of words and discourses that truly represent them. This is also affecting how autistic people relate and understand their gender identity. Having an impaired self-awareness because living in an unaccommodating, non-autistic world as well as being unable to see oneself to common gendered discourses and experiences may lead to autistic people being unable to express their gender identity. Consequently, multidisciplinary and intersectional discussion on autistic gender are vitally important in order to help autistic individuals understand and express their gender identity.