Condition is Becoming So Common that the Term “Autigender” was Created
Data collected by Autism Parenting Magazine shows that 5.7% of children on the spectrum exhibit symptoms of gender dysphoria. The magazine calculated this rate by sending a survey to more than 160,000 of their email subscribers around the world. Approximately three-quarters of the respondents were autism parents. The remaining participants were made up of grandparents, full-time caregivers, teachers, therapists, doctors, and individuals on the spectrum. The magazine’s survey asked the simple question “Is your child struggling with their gender identity?” The almost 6% affirmative rate reported by the survey is far higher than in the general population where only .005-.014% of biological males and .002-.003% of biological females are considered to have gender dysphoria. For the respondents that answered “yes” to the first question, a series of other questions were generated. From the answers of these additional questions, the magazine discovered that 50% of respondents said gender confusion started when their child was age 10 or older, 33% said signs of the condition appeared before their child turned five, and 17% reported symptoms started around ages five to 10 years. When asked about their child’s personal pronouns, 17.6% of respondents reported that their child goes by the gender neutral pronoun “they”. Close to 60% indicated that their child uses “he” or “she”, but only 17% of the children were using the pronoun they were assigned at birth. The remaining 5% were nonverbal and unable to show a preference. Only 4.5% of those surveyed were administering puberty blocking drugs to their child, however, 20% said they would consider using the puberty blocking medication in the future. The magazine also reported that gender dysphoria is becoming so frequent in the autism community that the term “autigender” is now being used to describe people who feel their gender identity is inextricably linked with, and influenced by, their autism.
