Being on the spectrum myself this is very close to my experience, though I was diagnosed at age 11 and had this internal sense of shame about it, and when I was 17 and all my peers were starting to have relationships and think about their future, I was socially awkward, afraid of physical intimacy, had body image issues and didn’t know what I wanted at all. Combine that with being a tomboy and very active on Tumblr and you have the perfect recipe for indoctrination by the gender cult. I knew I didn’t want to be male but the label of “non binary” was appealing because I’d gotten it in my head that to be a woman you need to follow stereotypes as well as be very secure with your sexuality, so the idea there was a “neither” option, free of expectations, made me leap straight to taking on the label.

As I got older and started taking medication for my co-morbid depression and anxiety, I outgrew it, but I just want to say that feeling different and out of place is so normal for teenage girls with autism, be they diagnosed or not, and regardless of sexuality (I’m straight, but never cared to get all dressed up to impress the guys, since that’s just faking it and I’d rather they saw my true self from the start). Very great article.