The lived experience of gender dysphoria in autistic adults: An interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Kate Cooper, William Mandy, Catherine Butler and 1 others
PMID 34376079WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults described gender dysphoria as distressing and hard to articulate, often clashing with a need for routine.
They faced barriers in healthcare due to communication differences and sensory environments. Services require adaptations like clear processes and sensory-friendly clinics to support them.
Key findings
01Participants experienced distress from a body-gender mismatch but struggled to articulate it, often describing it as general stress or numbness rather than specific emotions.
02Autism and gender needs often conflicted, creating tension between a desire for routine and certainty versus the unpredictable nature of gender transition.
03Accessing healthcare was difficult due to open-ended questions, sensory-unfriendly clinic environments, and clinicians not adapting to autistic communication styles.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The sample was relatively homogeneous, consisting only of adults with a confirmed autism diagnosis and experience of gender dysphoria who had sought help from a health professional. The study did not include autistic people who did not seek help for gender dysphoria, potentially missing a subset of experiences. As a qualitative study, the findings reflect the specific experiences of 21 participants and cannot be generalized to all autistic transgender adults.
Declared interests
The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. One author was funded by a National Institute for Health Research Clinical Doctoral Research Fellowship.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a lack of verbal articulation about gender distress indicates a lack of distress or a misunderstanding of identity. The study shows that autistic individuals may struggle to put these feelings into words due to alexithymia or communication differences, not because the distress is absent or invalid.