In my research I spoke to 13 trans and / or non-binary Autistic people (people said to live under the double rainbow of neurodivergence and queerness).

I wanted to know about their lives, what they thought about representation and their recommendations for double rainbow research.

It was important for me to do this work as a trans masc non-binary Autistic person. So much of the work on transgender and Autistic experience is inappropriate and actively excludes us.

I wanted to do work for us, by us.

We spoke about relationships, work, families, trauma, love, hobbies, interests, and hopes and dreams.

The participants were so interesting and amazing to talk to and so insightful too

They had many recommendations! Including talking to more non-binary people and Black Indigenous Autistic People of Colour in research.

Participants also said that they would like to see more work on trans Autistic people who also have Ehler’s Danlos Syndrome, especially because testosterone is supposed to relieve pain symptoms.

Most of all, the participants wanted researchers to listen to them about their experiences – they wanted trans Autistic people to be taken seriously as experts of our own experiences.

Plain language version can be found here.

Academic / version to reference can be found here.