“I Don't Understand Their Sense of Belonging”: Exploring How Nonbinary Autistic Adults Experience Gender

Abstract

Background:

The term “nonbinary” refers to all gender identities that are not exclusively male or female. Nonbinary identities are more common in autistic people than in nonautistic people. Yet research meaningfully exploring the unique intersection between autism and nonbinary identities is limited. Furthermore, little is known about how the experience of being nonbinary and autistic impacts access to autistic and queer communities; spaces that can protect against poor mental health outcomes.

Methods:

We examined: (1) how nonbinary autistic people make sense of gender and (2) how they negotiate community. A participatory approach was adopted, involving a consulting group of 18 nonbinary autistic people at every stage of the research process. A separate group of five nonbinary autistic adults from the United Kingdom took part in semistructured interviews about autism, gender, and community. We analyzed interviews using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

Results:

Within an emergent framework (gender as two dimensional), we identified three themes: (1) Where do I belong? (2) (Re)framing difference. (3) Space to be (neuro)queer. Participants understood that being autistic and nonbinary problematized how they connected with “gender,” a self-defined concept of high significance. Crucially, the queer community was felt to facilitate positive identity development, but participants emphasized a continued struggle with being misunderstood, largely by their nonautistic peers.

Conclusion:

This study celebrates neuroqueer ways of being. We recommend that nonautistic people are given improved education on nonbinary autistic identities; supporting autistic people to understand their differences and facilitating positive identity development within queer spaces. Creating autistic-led community groups is furthermore key, due to the linguistic and embodied complexities of autistic gender identities.

Community brief

Why is this an important issue?

People who are nonbinary do not feel like men or women. They might feel like a mix of both, or like they have no gender at all. Autistic people are more likely than nonautistic people to be nonbinary, but we do not know much about the unique experiences of nonbinary autistic people. Much of the existing research on this topic tends to treat nonbinary autistic people as in need of “fixing” or “changing,” or proposes theories that suggest autistic people tend to think more like men than women.

What was the purpose of this study?

We wanted to learn two things about the experiences of nonbinary autistic people: (1) how they make sense of gender and (2) if/how they access autistic or queer communities. Queer is a term sometimes used to refer to people who are not exclusively attracted to the opposite sex or people who do not identify with their gender assigned at birth. Research has shown that access to autistic and queer communities can help to protect against poor mental health outcomes.

What did the researchers do?

The lead researcher, Mary Peachey (who is autistic and nonbinary), asked a group of 18 nonbinary autistic people about what the research should focus on. This group advised Mary throughout the whole study. Mary then completed interviews with five nonbinary autistic adults from the United Kingdom, to look at the following: (1) how they understand gender and (2) how they connect with other queer people. Data were analyzed using a method called Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). In IPA, research participants are viewed as experts of their own experience. The researchers act as interpreters, looking for what participants understand to be important, as well as what was particular to their experience.

What were the results of the study?

We found that being nonbinary and autistic complicated how participants understood themselves and related to others. Connecting to other autistic and queer people, however, helped participants to accept their identities, often after years of hiding their true selves to survive.

What do the findings add to what was already known?

This is, as far as we are aware, the first study to look at how nonbinary autistic people make sense of their identities and find like-minded communities.

What are the potential weaknesses in the study?

None of the participants had a learning disability or were people of color. More research should be done in this area so we can learn about different intersecting identities.

How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?

This study celebrates queer autistic ways of being. We recommend that autistic people be supported with understanding their identity through encouraging interactions within the queer community. We also call for greater education on nonbinary autistic identities for nonautistic people.

For an easy read version of the whole research article, please visit: https://osf.io/ya45b/