Autism and Sexual Diversity

There is a significant overlap between sexual diversity and neurodivergence. Until recently this has been poorly understood. While Autists are more likely to be sexually diverse, the spectrum of what that form of diversity looks like is wide and expansive, much like the autism spectrum itself. With many of us being “hypersexual”, many of us being asexual, and everything in between. We are more likely to be LGBTQIA and to have non-traditional relationship styles. Here is a run-down of some of the themes and current research on Autism and sexuality.

LGBTQA

It’s important to note the statistics vary quite a lot depending on the study. Here is a summary of some current research findings:

Autists are more likely to be non-heterosexual than the general population (Sarris, 2020). While 4.5% of general population identifies as LGB (Gallup poll), a rate of 15-35% within Autistic community identify as LGB (Sarris, 2020).
Autists are 2-3 times more likely to be LGB than the general population (Dr. Eileen Crehan quoted in Sarris 2020).
In a study involving approximately 630 individuals, 69.7% of Autistic individuals reported being non-heterosexual while only 30% of the TD group identified as being non-heterosexual (George and Stokes, 2018).
Several studies suggest Autistic men are more likely to be heterosexual than Autistic women (Dewinter et al., 2017; George and Stokes, 2018). For example, in a Dutch study, 57 percent of autistic women reported being straight while 82 percent of autistic men reported being straight (Dewinter et al., 2017).

Gender Diversity

A larger percentage of autists identify with something other than strictly male or female (bigender, genderqueer and “other”) (George and Stokes, 2018)
Warrier et al., 2021 found that transgender and gender-diverse adults were three to six times more likely to be autistic than cisgender adults. Notably, this only includes diagnosed Autists–and many adults on the spectrum may be undiagnosed. Based on the global population, Warrier et al.2021 estimate somewhere between 3-9% of transgender and gender-diverse adults may be autistic. To learn more specifically about GenderDiversity and Autism see my infographic about it here.

Non-Traditional Relationship Structure

Emerging research suggests Autists are less likely to engage in traditional relationship structures. They are more likely to be poly, practice consensual non-monogamy and kink (Gratton, 2019; Schöttle et. al., 2017).

ACE/ARO

Autists are more likely to be asexual and/or aromantic (Attanasio et al., 2021; George and Stokes, 2018)
In a studying involving 230 Autistic adults 30% indicated they experienced sexual experiences as unpleasant (Lai et al., 2011)
In a study by Dewinter et al., 2017 Autistic women were more likely to be asexual than autistic men

Sexual Experiences and Gender Differences

Many of the studies on Autism and sexuality have primarily focused on Autistic men (and primarily those with co-occurring learning disabilities). Schöttle et al., 2017 did a large meta-study that included autistic women and looked at more autists without co-occurring learning disabilities. **Unfortunately, their study did not specifically include trans and genderdiverse as most of the studies included in the meta-study reported gender on the binary of male and female participants).

Some of their findings based on gender differences between autistic men and women included:

Autistic women had poorer levels of overall sexual functioning/felt less positive about sexual relationships than Autistic men.
Autistic women were at greater risk of being sexually victimized
Autistic men were more likely to be hypersexual and to engage in solitary sexual activities.
Autistic men tended to have a greater desire for sexual and romantic relationships than autistic women. Interestingly, while Autistic women tended to have less sexual desire, they were more likely than autistic men to be in committed relationships.

Implications

Until recently, the overlap between sexual and gender diversity and autism has been poorly understood. There are important implications for education systems, medical systems, therapists, and parents supporting autistic youth and young adults.

There is a need for specialized sex education programs for autistic populations that specifically address LGBTQIA issues (George and Stokes et al., 2018).
There is a need for effective sex education programs that assist in developing healthy sexual identities and relationships (Pecora et al., 2020).
Autistic people (particularly women, trans, and genderqueer autists) have an increased risk of sexual victimization. More education and awareness around this needs to be included in sexual education programs. Therapists and parents should also be aware, so they can do early education and awareness building for their autistic teens.
Awareness of the impact of bullying. Autistic children and youth are at a higher risk of being bullied (Zablotsky). Similarly, LGBT youth have an elevated risk of being bullied. A 2017 survey of U.S. high school students found that those who are gay, lesbian, and bisexual are almost twice as likely to be bullied at school and online (StopBullying.gov). For autistic LGBTQ students, this has a compounding effect.

Follow up Resources

For Clinicians: SPARK webinar with Eileen Crehan’s SPARK webinar: https://sparkforautism.org/discover_article/webinar-sexual-orientation-gender-identity-asd/

In this recorded webinar, Eileen Crehan, Ph.D., provides a helpful overview of the current research. She shares resources on sexuality and relationship education programs for self-advocates, parents, and clinicians to aid in better supporting autistic individuals.

For Autistic Teens and young adults:

Citations

Attanasio, M., Masedu, F., Quattrini, F., Pino, M. C., Vagnetti, R., Valenti, M., & Mazza, M. (2021). Are Autism Spectrum Disorder and Asexuality Connected?. Archives of sexual behavior, 10.1007/s10508-021-02177-4. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-02177-4

Dewinter J. et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 47, 2927–2934 (2017) PubMed

George, R., & Stokes, M. A. (2018). Sexual Orientation in Autism Spectrum Disorder. Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 11(1), 133–141. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.1892

Gratton, Finn (2020). Support Transgender Autistic Youth and Adults. Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Philadelphia

Lai, M. C., Lombardo, M. V., Pasco, G., Ruigrok, A. N., Wheelwright, S. J., Sadek, S. A., Chakrabarti, B., MRC AIMS Consortium, & Baron-Cohen, S. (2011). A behavioral comparison of male and female adults with high functioning autism spectrum conditions. PloS one, 6(6), e20835. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0020835

Pecora, L. A., Hooley, M., Sperry, L., Mesibov, G. B., & Stokes, M. A. (2020). Sexuality and Gender Issues in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder. Child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of North America, 29(3), 543–556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chc.2020.02.007

Sarris, Marina (2020). Autistic People More Likely to Identify as LGBTQ. Discover Spark. Retrieved on November 11, 2021. https://sparkforautism.org/discover_article/autism-lgbtq-identity/

Schöttle, D., Briken, P., Tüscher, O., & Turner, D. (2017). Sexuality in autism: hypersexual and paraphilic behavior in women and men with high-functioning autism spectrum disorder. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 19(4), 381–393. https://doi.org/10.31887/DCNS.2017.19.4/dschoettle

Zablotsky, B., Bradshaw, C. P., Anderson, C. M., & Law, P. (2014). Risk factors for bullying among children with autism spectrum disorders. Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 18(4), 419–427. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361313477920

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