Neuroqueering the Psychoanalytic Lens

Abstract

Autism and queerness frequently overlap but little is written about this intersection psychoanalytically and queerness or gender atypicality are often viewed as underlying symptoms of autism. Autism itself gets reduced to a problem within a person’s brain by the medical model, while the disability model focuses on the social construction of autism. Psychoanalysis is uniquely positioned to theorize the interweaving of the body, mind and the social: the intrapsychic development of the autistic queer child, the way they interact and make meaning of their interaction with caregivers, and the impact of social stigma and harsh disciplining of neurodiversity and queerness alike. This paper illustrates the central role of understanding neurodiversity in fostering our autistic queer patients’ ability to reclaim their developmental narrative, process trauma, and come into an overall sense of vitality and healthy self-esteem in their gendered bodies, without which desire is compromised. For many autistic queer individuals, gender queerness is intrinsically linked to the ways they experience their autistic bodies. Neuroqueering our psychoanalytic lens means coming to terms with the ways that we participate in the disciplining of divergent bodies and minds in response to the primitive anxieties elicited by autistic and trans desire, to the detriment of our patients and theories.