Thank you for "Your Identity"!

That’s brilliant! Well done! I am sure many LGBTQIA+ members of our autistic community will appreciate your efforts.

I am glad you feel so validated, everyone should have their identity recognised. I am surprised that NAS still only offered gender binary options given that there is now much more awareness of the diversity in gender identity.

Glitter said:

Gender mostly seems like a social construct to me, and I'm not always good with those.  

Yes definitely. I just feel like an autistic adult, I don’t feel like a specific gender really.

You may be interested in this research below about how being autistic influences your gender identity:

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/aut.2018.0001

That's a very interesting link- I'm glad there is proper research happening because there is definitely an overlap. Thank you! 

And yes, I think our sense of gender can be hugely affected by our autism, just like everything else. If we struggle to understand our own basic emotions, how are we supposed to understand how we feel about gender constructs? 

You are very welcome for the link. There is definitely a significant overlap between gender nonconformity/LGBTQIA+ community and our autistic community.

Glitter said:

If we struggle to understand our own basic emotions, how are we supposed to understand how we feel about gender constructs? 

Yes I understand what you mean. Emotions are vague, abstract and fluid as is the concept of gender identity. Gender cannot be confined in the same way that we may find it difficult to to categorise or identify our emotions (known as alexithymia).

Personally I think we are more likely to question gender constructs because we are neurodivergent and a minority community. We think differently and don’t conform to neuronormativity (neurotypical social expectations, unless masked) so it makes sense for us to question other types of conformity such as gender roles and societal ideas of gender expression. Also given that being autistic can naturally mean we are very analytical (I certainly am), we are more likely to question why gender constructs even exist.

If you are interested in this topic in more depth you may like these videos from Aucademy:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLth_YtwLg2Gv0KTeh5mz0qIidxQnSx5rV

https://youtu.be/MiqOjkKvHN0

You may be interested in the book ‘Neuroqueer Heresies’ by Nick Walker which is discussed in the video above. It’s brilliant.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neuroqueer-Heresies-Neurodiversity-Empowerment-Possibilities/dp/1945955260/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=2D4T9NJO9MFI6&keywords=neuroqueer+heresies&qid=1660426637&sprefix=neuroq%2Caps%2C120&sr=8-1

I hope you enjoy the videos if you choose to watch them.

Thanks for starting a great discussion!

You are very welcome for the link. There is definitely a significant overlap between gender nonconformity/LGBTQIA+ community and our autistic community.

Glitter said:

If we struggle to understand our own basic emotions, how are we supposed to understand how we feel about gender constructs? 

Yes I understand what you mean. Emotions are vague, abstract and fluid as is the concept of gender identity. Gender cannot be confined in the same way that we may find it difficult to to categorise or identify our emotions (known as alexithymia).

Personally I think we are more likely to question gender constructs because we are neurodivergent and a minority community. We think differently and don’t conform to neuronormativity (neurotypical social expectations, unless masked) so it makes sense for us to question other types of conformity such as gender roles and societal ideas of gender expression. Also given that being autistic can naturally mean we are very analytical (I certainly am), we are more likely to question why gender constructs even exist.

If you are interested in this topic in more depth you may like these videos from Aucademy:

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLth_YtwLg2Gv0KTeh5mz0qIidxQnSx5rV

https://youtu.be/MiqOjkKvHN0

You may be interested in the book ‘Neuroqueer Heresies’ by Nick Walker which is discussed in the video above. It’s brilliant.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Neuroqueer-Heresies-Neurodiversity-Empowerment-Possibilities/dp/1945955260/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=2D4T9NJO9MFI6&keywords=neuroqueer+heresies&qid=1660426637&sprefix=neuroq%2Caps%2C120&sr=8-1

I hope you enjoy the videos if you choose to watch them.

Thanks for starting a great discussion!

You are very welcome for the Aucademy link. Just to note, the Aucademy videos are usually 1 and 1/2 to 2 hours long- great for hyper focusing!

‘The one thing I disagreed with was that she suggested our social difficulties were because of sensory issues, but my sensory issues are not as problematic as that. I just don't fit with most social groups’

Yes I think I understand what you mean. You just need to find your own autistic social group where your natural way of socialising is dominant. I hope you feel like you have found your own autistic tribe in this online community, I certainly have! We definitely socialise much more naturally and brilliantly with our own neurokin. We have our own autistic social style!

I think what she was trying to convey is that all information is sensory and therefore for many of autistic people we socialise differently because we have our own distinct sensory experience which can mean that neurotypical group interactions are chaotic.

I hope you enjoy and gain new knowledge from your deep dive into the Aucademy videos.

I have that book!  I stormed through about half of it in a couple of days, but then slowed a bit. The one thing I disagreed with was that she suggested our social difficulties were because of sensory issues, but my sensory issues are not as problematic as that. I just don't fit with most social groups.

I'm going to dive into those aucademy videos next time I do the ironing!