Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, and Romantic Relationships in Adolescents and Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder.
J Dewinter, H De Graaf, S Begeer
PMID 28597143WHAT IT FOUND
Most autistic adolescents and adults identified with their assigned gender at birth, but sexual orientation was more varied than in general population peers. 50% had a relationship, compared with 70% of controls; most relationships were satisfying.
Key findings
01Sexual orientation was more varied in the autism group than in general population controls, in both men and women.
02Fewer participants with autism were in a relationship (50%) than controls (70%), but among those in a relationship, similar proportions lived with their partner.
03Most participants with autism identified with their assigned gender at birth, but 22% of women and 8% of men reported some gender non-conforming feelings.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The autism group was a convenience sample, and the authors did not calculate power beforehand. Diagnosis was self-reported by Netherlands Autism Register participants and was not confirmed in this paper. Women were more represented than expected in autism, and the group had relatively high education and late diagnosis, so results may not fit all autistic people. Only a small number were under 25, so adolescents were not compared separately from adults. Gender identity questions were not available for the general population control group. The autism participants did not know sexuality questions would be included, while controls volunteered for a sexual health survey, so response bias may differ between groups. The questions were few, single-item, and embedded in different surveys, so answers may not be fully comparable.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that autism causes non-heterosexual attraction or gender non-conforming feelings, or that autistic people are generally asexual or unable to form relationships. The paper reports self-reported survey answers from a convenience sample, and it did not compare gender identity with the control group.