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Short abstract:

Based on ongoing ethnographic interviews with queer autistic individuals, the aim of my presentation is to interrogate the gender biases and gendered perceptions of autism and autism diagnosis as present in the current DSM-5 characterization of autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Long abstract:

In this presentation, I aim to bridge the preliminary findings of my ethnographic research with queer autistic individuals and recent literature on ‘neuroqueer(ing)’. ‘Neuroqueer(ing)’ is an emerging non-normative project that foregrounds the intersections and affinities of neurodivergence and queerness. In spite of various intersections between LGBTQIA+ and autism identities, as of today, qualitative research on the lived experiences of this dual minority status is lacking. There is a significant gender imbalance in the field of autism diagnosis; in fact, ‘current perceptions and even metrics of autism are skewed towards males’ (Brickhill et al. 2023: 1). Indeed, the core traits and symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as described in the current DSM-5 (the Diagnostical and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) are based on the occurrence and behaviors of autism as it presents in young male children. Moreover, research on lived experiences with ASD is often focused on the perspectives of caregivers at the expense of insider perspectives (Tan 2018). Based on the preliminary findings of interviews with five queer autistic adults, the main aim of my presentation is to interrogate and redress some of the gaps and biases of autism diagnosis and scholarship. Looking at autism through the lens of everyday sensory experiences, my main aim is to bring into dialogue the clinical representation and symptomology of ASD of the current DSM-5 with emic and phenomenological perspectives.